During their long collaboration, Laurie Kirszner and Stephen Mandell have written a number of best-selling college texts for Bedford/St. Martin's, including Patterns for College Writing, Foundations First, Writing First, Focus on Writing, and, most recently, Practical Argument. Laurie Kirszner is a Professor of English, Emeritus at the University of the Sciences, where she has taught composition, literature, creative writing, and scientific writing, and served as coordinator of the first-year writing program.  Stephen Mandell is a Professor of English at Drexel University, where he founded and directed the basic writing program and has taught composition, literature, speech, and technical and business writing.