Russell Goings has a BA from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. He studied writing at Fairfield University and the 92nd Street Y. Before he took up writing fifteen years ago, he was a professional football player; the first African American brokerage manager for a New York Stock Exchange Member firm; the first owner of an African American firm to man - age assets for Fortune 500 companies; the first African American chairman of the Studio Museum in Harlem; and founder and chairman for Essence magazine. An inductee into the Wall Street Hall of Fame, Goings has also been featured in the New York Times, Newsweek, and Black Enterprise magazine. He lives with his wife in New York City.