Respected nationally for his books about house building and construction company management, David Gerstel has been a licensed builder for 35 years. His interests date back to his childhood and undergraduate days. An avid builder of tree houses during his elementary school years in North Carolina, he served as editor-in-chief of the campus newspaper at Brandeis University near Boston. After college he set out to learn a trade, becoming a master carpenter and founding a construction company that rapidly earned respect for its upfront business practices and the integrity of its work. David's books are widely admired for their depth of research, expertise, readability, and humour. Along with his work, he enjoys tennis and reading about history, financial and environmental issues, and building design and construction as well as (especially) spending time with his wife Sandra.