Lewis Benedictus Smedes was an acclaimed writer, publishing 15 books, including Forgive and Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don't Deserve and The Art of Forgiving. Smedes was born in Muskegon, Michigan and attended Calvin College and Seminary.He went on to earn his Th.D. from the Free University of Amsterdam. Before moving on to accepting faculty positions at Calvin College and Fuller Seminary, Smedes pastored Madison Ave. CRC in Paterson, New Jersey. He retired from Fuller as a professor of Psychology in 1995. He died following a fatal head injury in 2002.