Ed Cray is a longtime freelance writer who has been published in many of the country's leading newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and The Washington Post. Cray is the author of 18 published books, including General of the Army, a biography of George C. Marshall; Chief Justice, a biography of Earl Warren; and most recently Ramblin' Man: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie. He has organized an international Consortium for the Study of Biography.

Cray joined the School of Journalism faculty as an adjunct instructor in 1976. He is now a tenured professor. He earned a B.S. degree in anthropology from UCLA in 1957, then spent 18 months as a graduate student studying anthropology, folklore and ethnomusicology.

He lives in Santa Monica. He has three adult children.