John Ehle was an accomplished American author, born in 1925 and raised in the mountains of North Carolina. His upbringing in this region would later provide the inspiration for many of his novels and non-fiction works. After serving in World War II, Ehle pursued his higher education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he earned his BA and MA degrees. It was during this time that he developed an interest in writing and began crafting plays for the NBC radio series, American Adventure.
Following his graduation, Ehle taught at the University of North Carolina for ten years. However, his career took a different turn when he joined the staff of North Carolina governor, Terry Sanford, as a "one-man think tank" and the governor's "idea man" from 1962 to 1964. Sanford once stated that if he were to write a guidebook for new governors, one of his main suggestions would be to find a novelist and put him on his staff. Ehle's writing career continued to flourish as he went on to author a total of eleven novels and six works of non-fiction. Among his most notable works are his celebrated Mountain Novels cycle, which consists of seven novels. Ehle was married to Rosemary Harris, also an actress, and they had one daughter together, Jennifer Ehle, who also became an actress.