Terry Goodkind (1948-2020) was a #1 New York Times bestselling author. His books include the multi-volume epic fantasy Sword of Truth series—beginning with Wizard’s First Rule—and related series Richard and Kahlan and The Nicci Chronicles.
Goodkind was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, where he also attended art school. Alongside a career in wildlife art, he was also a cabinetmaker and a violin maker, and did restoration work on rare and exotic artifacts from around the world. In the 1990s he relocated to Nevada, where, when not writing novels, he was a racing-car enthusiast.