A. Townsend Marshall was born in Detroit Michigan. Al grew up on the far east side of the city where he attended Catholic grade school and high school, before attending the University of Michigan in the early sixties. He received a BS degree in Engineering. Al was a rare engineer at the time, having elected English as his engineering curriculum electives. He wrote technical articles, for the Engineering College publication, the Michigan Technic. After graduation from Michigan, Al spent the first part of his career as a gas turbine performance engineer with a Detroit based company. He married Marina while attending the University of Detroit in evenings working toward his MBA. With an MBA degree in hand and strong emerging interest in computing systems, Al moved from engineering into information systems. He has progressed in that field for over thirty years.

His first novel, Thread of Decency, in part, draws on his experience in industry which includes implementation of major computing systems in functional areas of engineering, manufacturing, finance, general business and most recently eBusiness initiatives. Al has led in defining major corporate information technology directions, systems strategies and the development of large and small organizations in their successful implementation. He is also a Certified Six Sigma Blackbelt.

Al has been married to Marina for over thirty-five years, has two grown children and one grandson. He and Marina enjoy woodworking, photography, quality time with family and their time together in Northern Michigan. Al enjoys writing and has two other works in progress.