Ronnie Dreistadt has worked for the Kentucky Derby Museum for thirteen years and is considered an expert on the history of the race. He has written several newspaper/magazine articles pertaining to general Kentucky Derby history and has been the outreach education coordinator for the Kentucky Derby Museum for eight years. He has also written and researched all of the tours the Kentucky Derby museum now offers: historic walking tour, barn and backside stable tour, behind the scenes tour and the horses and haunts tour (ghost stories). He has researched and written six education programs, including the "Vanishing Bluegrass" program, on which much of this book is based. This program was developed and produced for grades five through eight in 2007 and was adapted and expanded for an adult audience in 2010. Originally, this topic was the subject of a temporary exhibit displayed in the Kentucky Derby Museum.