Nicholas Nicastro was born in Astoria, New York in 1963. Since that time his primary preoccupation has been in accumulating capital letters behind his given name, including a B.A. in English from Cornell University (1985), an M.F.A. in filmmaking from New York University (1991), an M.A. in archaeology and a Ph.D in psychology from Cornell (1996 and 2003). He has also worked as a film critic, a hospital orderly, a newspaper reporter, a library archivist, a college lecturer in anthropology and psychology, an animal behaviorist, and an advertising salesman. His writings include short fiction, travel and science articles in such publications as The New York Times, The New York Observer, Film Comment, and The International Herald Tribune. His most rewarding occupation, however, has been as husband to Maryanne Newton, whom he married in 1995. Their daughter, Nell Lindsay Nicastro, was born in March, 2002.