Gary Dell Kessler now lives, with his wife of nearly five decades, in Charlottesville, Virginia. Gary previously had a career, spanning over thirty years, of service in Washington, D.C., East Asia, and the Mediterranean with the U.S. government's foreign media monitoring news agency, for which he served as managing editor, deputy bureau chief for Southeast and South Asia, and Middle East bureau chief. He also served as entertainment columnist for four national-level English-language newspapers in Thailand and Cyprus and was a consultant for such movie productions as The Deer Hunter, The Killing Fields, and Good Morning, Vietnam. Gary and his wife both attended the University of Virginia and met at the Wesley Foundation there, which is where, decades later, their son, Drew, also met his wife, Aimee. Gary and Evelyn were so taken with the Blue Ridge region that they bought property there before their first overseas tour and maintained and fulfilled their intention to retire to Charlottesville, where both continued to work in publishing until their ultimate retirement. They have two grown children and two granddaughters. After leaving government service, Gary had a second career as a freelance book editor, working almost exclusively for mainline book publishers, and as a writer.