Larry Bruce Massie, born January 7, 1947, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the son of a full-blooded Scot and the oldest of seven children, grew up in Lakeville N.Y and Allegan, Michigan, Following graduation from Allegan High School, at the age of 17 he enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving with the 173^th Airborne Brigade in Vietnam and the 82^nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg N.C.

After his discharge he played football at Illinois State University, and graduated from Western Michigan University with a BA Summa Cum Laude in 1972, an MA With Honors in 1974 and a Specialist Degree in 1977, all in history.

Beginning in 1976 he honed his research and writing skills as Assistant Director of the WMU Archives & Regional History Collections. He left in 1983 to launch a career as an independent scholar specializing in Michigan history. He has written 22 popular Michigan history books, all written longhand on yellow legal pads, (a bibliography follows) designed numerous museum displays, written text for historic walkways, conducted numerous oral history projects, and has toured the state delivering more than 500 Michigan history storytelling presentations.

In 1984, he met the love of his life, the former Priscilla Hagerman of Kalamazoo, on Sugar Island in the St. Marys River. They wed that year and she joined him as his workmate, publisher and a specialist in Michigan's culinary history. They've raised two daughters, Maureen & Autumn, in their converted 1880 schoolhouse nestled in the Allegan Forest filled with their 50,000 volume antiquarian library

Larry is currently working on a poetry collection.