Author Dan McLachlan earned a master's degree in creative writing from Washington State University in 1969. During his studies at WSU, he became friends with Howard McCord, poet and WSU faculty member.

Howard McCord was born on November 3, 1932, in El Paso, Texas. After a hitch in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War, he returned to El Paso and attended Texas Western College receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business. The following year he received a Master of Arts degree in English from the University of Utah. In 1960, he began teaching at Washington State University offering courses in Poetry and Eastern Civilizations. He also began the graduate program in Creative Writing. In 1965 he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship which allowed him to travel extensively in India and Nepal and study for a year at the University of Mysore. In 1971, he was appointed Professor of English and Director of the MFA program at Bowling Green State University. The North Carolina Poetry Circuit selected him as visiting poet for the fall of 1971, and he gave readings at campuses throughout the state. Besides his studies in India, he also traveled through Iceland and published a book of poetry about his trip. His published works include poems in over 15 collections of poetry, as well as inclusion in numerous journals and monographs. From 1960 to 1977 his Tribal Press published many works of poetry in various formats. Howard McCord died on 03 November 2022.

Dan Houston McLachlan was born August 28, 1942, in Greenwich Connecticut, the son of Dan McLachlan Jr. and Fredolyn (Walker) McLachlan. Dan graduated from Elwood P. Cubberley High School in Palo Alto, California with the graduating class of 1960. He went on to earn a BA then MA in English from Washington State University, a teaching degree from Pacific Lutheran University, then a teaching certification from Western Washington State University. He did his PhD studies at University of Puget Sound, Pacific Lutheran University and Chapman University in New Zealand. He was a professor at WSU, Olympic Community College, Tacoma Community College and Pacific Lutheran University. He also worked as a teacher at various high schools throughout Washington state. McLachlan was an author of many books, articles and short stories, including the books: "The Fieldbook of Pacific Northwest Creatures", "Raven’s Orca", "MacAvity’s Pub", "MacAvity’s Burning", "MacAvity’s Pub and the Land Grab", and "Green and Roughshod, I Should’ve Stayed a Montana Cowboy". Dan McLachlan died 26 February 2020, in Genesee, Idaho.