Jerome Klapka Jerome was born in Walsall, Staffordshire, England on May 2nd, 1859, the son of a preacher and coal mine owner. Leaving school at the age of fourteen after his mother's death, Jerome worked such diverse jobs as a railway clerk, a journalist, and a schoolmaster. Though also an actor, playwright, and editor, Jerome found fame through his writing. His first book, On Stage and Off, was published in 1888.

Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, a collection of essays, followed in 1886, and Jerome married Georgina Elizabeth Henrietta Stanley Marris in 1888. In 1889, Jerome published the humorous Three Men in a Boat, an account of a trip that Jerome, two friends, and a dog named Montmorency took up the River Thames. Though panned by critics, it was embraced by the public and brought Jerome fortune and fame. "I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours." (from Three Men in a Boat)

He continued to publish works, including the famous morality play, The Passing of the Third Floor Back (1907). Other works include The Diary of a Pilgrimage (1891), Novel Notes (1893), The Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1898), Three Men on the Bummel (1900), Paul Kelver, a novel (1902), Tommy and Co (1904), They and I (1909), and All Roads Lead to Calvary (1919).

Jerome died in 1927.