An American psychologist and novelist, born in New York, and raised in Los Angeles, California, United States. He received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of California in 1971, and worked as a journalist, painter, and guitar teacher. The turning point of his career was when he won the Samuel Goldwyn Writing Award, but he chose to temporarily move away from screenwriting to obtain a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Southern California. He's known for When the Bough Breaks (1986).