Although he grew up in Pennsylvania, Royce Van Tassell has been skiing, playing volleyball and mountain biking in Utah for more or less 30 years. After graduating from BYU in political science, he did graduate work in political economy at Utah State University. Among other career stops, he has been director of research at the American Civil Rights Institute, communications director at Parents for Choice in Education and vice president at the Utah Taxpayers Association. He has written and ghostwritten scores of articles published in local, state and national outlets, including the San Francisco Chronicle, the York Daily Record, every major Utah newspaper and the Wall Street Journal.