Richard Schwartz is a historian and the author of "Eccentrics, Heroes, and Cutthroats of Old Berkeley"; "Earthquake Exodus, 1906"; "Berkeley 1900"; and "The Circle of Stones". Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he graduated from Temple University with a bachelor’s degree in English Literature. An outdoor enthusiast and animal lover, Schwartz worked on a Pennsylvania Dutch farm for two years before heading west to find higher mountains. He now lives in Berkeley, California, where he works as a building contractor and documents early Native American sites in the Bay Area. The Man Who Lit Lady Liberty (April 2017) is his fifth book and was selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Margaret Herrick Library to be included in their collection. The book was also recently awarded the bronze medal in the 2018 Independent Publisher Book Awards.