Michael A. Messner was born in Salinas, California, and educated from kindergarten to Ph.D. in California's public schools. He lives in Santa Fe, NM with sociologist and author Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo. Messner worked as a professor of sociology and gender studies at the University of Southern California from 1987 to 2023. His recent books include Some Men: Feminist Allies and the Movement to End Violence Against Women, co-authored with Max Greenberg and Tal Peretz, published by Oxford University Press in 2015. The first of two books on military veterans who become activists for peace, Guys Like Me: Five Wars, Five Veterans for Peace, was published in 2019 by Rutgers University Press. The second, Unconventional Combat: Intersectional Action in the Veterans' Peace Movement, was published by Oxford University Press in 2021. His new book, The High School: Sports, Spirit, and Citizens, 1903-2024, will be published in March, 2025 by Rutgers University Press.