John Crean, born in New York City, grew up in Westchester and Southern Connecticut. Educated on the East coast, he graduated from Fairfield Prep and Holy Cross College in Worcester, majoring in German, philosophy, and theology. John then received his master’s and doctorate in German at Yale. He taught there, then at the University of Wisconsin, the University of Hawaii and finally at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. John has published, edited or co-authored numerous textbooks, scholarly articles and books. While teaching in Hawaii, John was also ordained an Episcopal priest. He continued from then on to serve bi-vocationally, holding both ecclesiastical as well as academic positions. Since 1980, John has presented and published on the Rule of Benedict. From 1995-2010 he served as a coeditor and board member of Magistra: A Journal of Women’s Spirituality in History.  Appointed a "reader" at the Huntington Library in San Marino, CA, he has also researched and published on ecclesiastical history. In 2020, he authored Recovering Benedict, a daily devotional blending readings from the Rule of Benedict with the principles of twelve-step recovery. In 2023, John published Week by Week through the Seasons of Life. A sequel, Extraordinary Time, is soon to appear. Another devotional work in preparation, a daily reader, is called Living Water. John currently resides not far from Palm Springs where he continues writing and assisting at a local parish.