Don A. Farrell has been researching the history of the Mariana Islands for forty years and has written ten previous books on the subject. He is a graduate of Cal State Fullerton, a U.S. Air Force veteran, a former school teacher, and former chief of staff to the speaker of the Guam legislature.

From 2011-2017, he served on the board of directors of the Humanities Council of the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands; during that time he spent four years as vice-chairman of the Commonwealth's Historic Preservation Board. Don is the Marianas historian for Stephen Ambrose Historical Tours and regularly participates in its World War II tours of the Pacific and in symposia in the United States.