Ned Hayes is a novelist and journalist whose books have been published around the world in many languages — most recently the national bestseller THE EAGLE TREE, which was named by Steve Silberman as one of the top 5 books about the autistic experience. His previous novels include the acclaimed historical novel SINFUL FOLK, illustrated by New York Times bestselling author/illustrator Nikki McClure, which was nominated for the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award. He was educated at Stanford University and the Rainier Writing Workshop and has served on the boards of the Reading Foundation and Clarion West. He is the founder of Human Intelligence™, an institute dedicated to the preservation and promotion of human creativity.