Howard Parsons was born in Petersburg, VA during the final days of King George VI's reign. He grew up and attended school in nearby Hopewell, VA. The eldest son of Lucile and Howard T. Parsons Sr., he attended North Carolina College in Rocky Mount, NC and graduated in 1974 with a BS degree in Biology. Although his interests lay in both Virology and Marine Biology, the need to earn a living led him to the field of Information Technology. During his stint with the Michie Company in Charlottesville, VA, he developed the TOOL programming language and in 2008, wrapped up a 30-year career in legal publishing. At present, he is retired and lives at The Parsonage in Charlottesville with his wife and their latest two moggies in a long line of house cats. His interests include pipe collecting, Scottish highland games, railroads and heraldry.