George Raymond Richard Martin was born on September 20th, 1948, and is an American author, screenwriter, and television producer. He is best known as the author of the novel series A Song of Ice and Fire, which HBO later adapted into a Primetime Emmy Award-winning television series from 2011 to 2019.

While attending Marist High School, he became an avid comic-book fan, with an interest in superheroes from Marvel Comics. In 1970, Martin earned a BS in Journalism with a minor in history from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism in Evanston, Illinois. His epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, was inspired by the Wars of the Roses, The Accursed King, and Ivanhoe. It was originally supposed to be just three volumes but now comprises seven.

In 2005, Lev Grossman of Time called Martin “the American Tolkien,” and in 2011, he was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. His 5th vol in the Song of Ice and Fire series achieved a No. 1 spot on the New York Times Bestseller List and remained on the list for 88 weeks. In 2012, A Dance with Dragons made the final ballot of science fiction and fantasy’s Hugo Award, World Fantasy Award, Locus Poll Award, and the British Fantasy Novel. He is currently not working on writing anything.