Jay Parini is a poet, a novelist, a biographer, and a professor at Middlebury College. Among his seven novels are The Last Station (the movie version of which will feature Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer, and James McAvoy), Benjamin's Crossing, and The Apprentice Lover. Parini also wrote The Art of Teaching (2005), based on his columns in The Chronicle of Higher Education, to which he still frequently contributes. He has appeared on various programs for National Public Radio, C-SPAN, and PBS.