David L. Kurtz has taught at a number of major U.S. and foreign universities, and collaborated on writing best-selling books with Louis E. Boone. Their publications have been translated into Chinese, French, Indonesian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, and Spanish. Dave has lectured extensively throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Dave attended Davis & Elkins College in Elkins, West Virginia for four years, and was then accepted by the graduate business school at the University of Arkansas, where he met Gene Boone. Gene and Dave became longtime co-authors; together they have produced more than 50 books. In addition to writing, Dave and Gene have been partners in several entrepreneurial ventures. After a long and distinguished career, Louis E. Gene" Boone passed away just before the publication of the Thirteenth Edition of CONTEMPORARY MARKETING. Over the years, students and colleagues at the University of Tulsa, the University of South Alabama, and other schools in the U.S., Australia, and Europe were fortunate to be influenced by Gene's insights. Many marketing instructors knew Gene through his distinguished career and remember the numerous contributions he made to business education. Gene was a pioneer of the marketing discipline and arguably the best and most creative business writer of his generation."