E. Thomas Wood worked as a journalist for more than 25 years, mainly for media outlets in Nashville but also as a longtime stringer for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. He is presently employed as a staff writer for an international law firm. Wood is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and earned an M.Phil. in European Studies at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is married to food writer Nicki Pendleton Wood. They have one daughter.