For more than twenty-five years, John Langan has taught reading and writing at Atlantic Cape Community College in Atlantic City, New Jersey. John appreciates the challenge of creating materials that teach skills in an unusually clear and vibrant way. He is the author of a successful series of college textbooks on both writing and reading. Prior to teaching, he got advanced degrees in writing and reading from Rutgers University and Rowan University, respectively. He also spent a year composing fiction, which he claims is currently hidden in a drawer, ready to be discovered and praised after his death. He supported himself while attending school by working as a truck driver, machinist, battery assembler, hospital attendant, and apple packer.

John now resides near Philadelphia with his wife, Judith Nadell. Reading and introducing nonreaders to the pleasure and power of books are two of his loves, in addition to his wife and Philadelphia sports teams. He has created the nonprofit Townsend Library, a collection of over a hundred new and classic stories, through Townsend Press, his educational publishing company.