William Melvin Gardner served in the USAF before earning a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Alabama. After graduation, he taught at Mercer University and then worked in psychiatric care before joining the faculty at Jacksonville State University. He conducted research in comparative psychology, learning, sensory disorders, and academic cheating. After retiring, he wrote essays on automotive history and compiled an encyclopedia of eight-cylinder engines. His most recent work is a gift book, Aphorisms for the Uncommon Reader (2020), but he is best known for Handling Truth: Navigating the Riptides of Rhetoric, Religion, Reason, and Research (2012, 2020). He lives with his wife, mystery novelist G. P. Gardner, in a small town on Mobile Bay. williammelvingardner.com