LAURIE ROZAKIS, Ph.D., is an associate professor of English and Humanities at the State University of New York. Dr. Rozakis is the recipient of a number of awards, including a 1994 Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, inclusion in the authoritative reference text Something About the Author, and several Empire State Challenge Fellowships. Dr. Rozakis’ scholarly writing includes entries in The Dictionary of American Biography, Merriam-Webster’s Guide to Parliamentary Procedure, books on young adult authors, and articles on Hawthorne and the other Transcendental writers. She has written for Prentice Hall Literature, Scholastic, Macmillan, Random House, Simon and Schuster, Glenco/McGraw Hill, IBM, Steck-Vaughn, and McDougal, Littell. Dr. Rozakis lives on Long Island with her husband and two children.