Eric Kraft grew up in Babylon, New York, graduated from Harvard College, and holds a master's degree in teaching from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He has taught school and written textbooks, and he was for a time co-owner and co-captain of a clam boat, which sank. He has been the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, was chairman of PEN New England, and has been awarded the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature. He is the author of books including Flying and Passionate Spectator. He and his wife, Madeline, live in New Rochelle, New York.