Born and raised in Texas, Gary Cartwright graduated from Texas Christian University. In the ten years after graduation, Cartwright worked for five different newspapers. After successfully publishing his first book, a novel called The Hundred Yard War, Cartwright became a freelance writer. Named associate editor for Texas Monthly in 1982, where he now holds senior editor duties, Cartwright has written a handful of screenplays and just as many books. A life-altering heart attack, which required a quintuple bypass and a pacemaker, inspired Cartwright to write the book Heartwiseguy: How to Live the Good Life After a Heart Attack, a memoir that also gives practical advice and valuable tips.