Cleveland Amory was a well-known author who made his mark with three books about his famous cat, Polar Bear—The Cat Who Came for Christmas, The Cat and the Curmudgeon, and The Best Cat Ever. Earlier books by Amory include The Proper Bostonians, which is still considered a classic, and Man Kind? Our Incredible War on Wildlife. During Amory's writing career, he worked as editor at the Saturday Evening Post, chief critic for TV Guide, social commentator for The Today Show, and senior contributing editor of Parade magazine.

In 1967 Amory founded The Fund for Animals, an organization that has spearheaded many important environmental movements. In 1980 the Fund for Animals purchased lands for the Black Beauty Ranch, an animal sanctuary that became home to burros, dogs, cats, chimpanzees, buffalo, horses, pigs, sheep, deer, goats, monkeys, wolves, llamas, kinkajous, elephants, bobcats, prairie dogs, pumas, and more. Ranch of Dreams, of which this selection is a part, was published in 1997. Amory died in 1998.