House of Stairs About the Author

House of Stairs About the Author

William Warner Sleator III was born on February 13, 1945, in Havre de Grace, Maryland. His father was engaged in ballistics research at Aberdeen Proving Ground, and his mother was a surgeon for the health service there. Before he was three years old, Sleator and his family moved to a suburb of St. Louis, where he grew up in a house filled with books. Music, especially the piano, was an important part of his life.

After attending grade and high school in St. Louis, Sleator went on to earn a bachelor's degree from Harvard University. Even though he did not like Harvard and generally thought of it as a waste of money, he engaged in many activities that were useful preparation for his later life: writing music for student films and plays, writing reviews for the Harvard Lampoon, and keeping a journal that ended up containing over one...
(read more)