Trout, Ralph: - A Western Pennsylvania farm boy, Ralph Trout, decided early in life the stork had brought him to the wrong home. He hated winters and their starving landscapes. At the University of Pittsburgh, Ralph gained a bachelor's in journalism and a master's in communications. Ralph's life could have been the main character of The Celestine Prophecy. Jobs were incredibly difficult to land after the steel mills imploded. Options open, he furthered his construction skills and worked as a general contractor and master diver throughout the Caribbean. Building houses and finding shipwrecks paid the bills. When there finally was money and time available, Ralph decided to write about his adventures.