Daniel Cook (pen name) was born in 1934 in Metz, France, a town near the German border.  He and his family lived in southern France for a few years during the war.  Pursued by the German Gestapo because of his father's acts of resistance and sabotage against the German occupying forces, he and his family fled to Moracco where they lived in disguise in the Arab Quarter.  They were able to board one of the last ships allowed to sail to America.

     Despite the very limited family finances of his childhood, he supported his own higher education through perseverance, courage and hardwork.  He graduated as a medical doctor from The Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons.

     Difficult circumstances continued to influence his life.  The author battled his father, who was a violent man of action and energy.  His first marriage ended in divorce after ten years and two children due to his wife's severe mental illness.  For four years during the divorce proceedings and following her death, he became a single parent.  Eventually he remarried happily and has remained so for thirty years.

     The author practiced medicine for thirty-five years during which time he published extensively in medical journals, taught at a medical school, and wrote a book explaining cancer treatments to the public.  Upon his retirement, he began a second career as an author.  He has currently completed a second book of stories arising from his patients in his medical practice.  Currently he lives with his wife in Northampton, Massachusetts where he teaches Creative Writing.