John Newman grew up in rural northern California.  He worked in agriculture and later owned a working cattle and wheat ranch near Harlowton, Montana, about which he wrote a history, “Tipi Ring Ranch, Before and After the Buffalo” which is archived at the Montana Historical Society in Helena.  He studied creative writing and biology at Stanford, worked as a river guide on the great rivers of North America, and for over a decade has been a fire lookout.  His interest in native affairs and culture began at an early age when he helped construct the Ishi trail to honor the last surviving member of the Yahi tribe.  He also studied the Washoe language with the tribe near Lake Tahoe, their ancestral home, and for many years served as Chairman of the Museum of the American Indian in Marin County, California. While ranching in Montana he became acquainted with the neighboring Cheyenne tribe, sweated with families, and was invited to participate in the 400-mile Ft Robinson break-out run from Nebraska through Pine Ridge and back to reservation in Lame Deer.  His goal as a writer is to create character-based stories set principally in Montana and the west, where natives and anglos confront a spiritually infused world in which predators and prey uneasily coexist, and humans are on equal terms with other creatures; a present day that is primordial on every level.  In the process, his characters learn from one another and overcome personal demons and historical trauma.  John divides his time between Melville, Montana, and northern California.