Jann Kangilaski was a former Associated Press reporter, news editor for the Journal of the American Medical Association, freelance medical and science writer, and fantasy novelist. Jaan was born in Tartu, Estonia, fled with his family as Soviet troops began the 1944 Baltic Offensive, and came to the U.S. as a refugee in 1949 with his mother Ilse, brother Mihkel, and grand-mother. He served with the U.S. Army in Germany as a translator and court martial clerk, 1955-57, later earning an M.A. at Ohio State University in journalism. Love of literature in English, German, and Estonian, and a wide and deep knowledge of history lent his conversation great appeal and authority, ever lightened with quick wit and quirky humor.
