[Gary Bloom was born in Minneapolis and received his degree in sociology from what is now Minnesota State University- Mankato. He has been a teaching assistant at a psychiatric hospital, an English teacher in Taiwan, a driving instructor for spinal cord injury patients at a Minneapolis hospital, and a computer programmer. His articles, photography, and poetry have been published in newspapers, magazines, and websites, including Grit, Milwaukee Magazine, Pif, The Buffalo News, The Grand Rapids Press, Art Times Journal, and Black Diaspora.]