Biographer Peter J. Levinson was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey on July 1, 1934. He graduated from the University of Virginia and served in the Army during the Korean War. After the war, he worked as a freelance writer before taking a job with Columbia Records as a music publicist. He eventually opened his own publicity firm. He wrote the following biographies: Trumpet Blues: The Life of Harry James (1999); September in the Rain: The Life of Nelson Riddle (2001); Tommy Dorsey: Livin' in a Great Big Way (2005); and Puttin' on the Ritz: Fred Astaire and the Fine Art of Panache - a Biography (2009). He died due to injuries suffered from a fall on October 21, 2008 at the age of 74.