Born on May 31, 1904 and died on March 5, 2003, John Sanford is also known by his birth name, Julian Lawrence Shapiro. He was a screenwriter and novelist. In his lifetime, he wrote 24 books, half of which were written after he turned 80, which also included a five-volume autobiography. The biography won a PEN/Faulkner Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from Los Angeles Times. Three of his novels remain unpublished.

The People From Heaven (1943) is considered his most well-known and well-written book.