Timothy John Kessler is a "Baby Boomer," born in 1957 at Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City, S.D. He graduated from South Dakota State University in Brookings, S.D., in 1979 with a bachelor of arts degree in journalism and a sociology minor. Since then, he worked for 42 years as a newspaper writer, photographer, darkroom technician, sports writer, copy editor and editor of biweekly, weekly and daily newspapers in South Dakota, Nebraska, Arkansas, Kentucky and South Carolina, winning several statewide awards. He retired in December 2020 and now freelances in writing and photography, plus genealogy. He collects rocks and minerals, stamps and coins as hobbies. He has served as president of Warren Lions Club and as a Bradley County Chamber of Commerce board member. He has one daughter, Elizabeth Emery, married to Tyler Emery, and one grandson, Justice. He also has two stepchildren, Caitlyn and Brandon Barber. He currently lives in Warren, Arkansas, with his wife, Melinda, and their two sons, Timothy John-Findley and David Wayne Kessler, and their cat, Jasmine.