Erik D. Harshman (born in St. Louis, Missouri on March 19th, 1980) is a novelist, screenwriter, poet and educator. While the beginning stages of his childhood were spent in rural areas (Glencoe and Indian Tree, Missouri) Harshman soon moved to the city after his parents (David Harshman, a cardiologist in West St. Louis County and Kathleen Harshman, a Special Education teacher in Des Peres, Missouri) divorced when he was five. Harshman is a celebrated forerunner in the underground literary scene and has made new breakthroughs in curriculum design and educational methods.