Laurie Kirszner and Stephen Mandell have taught college composition and basic writing for more than 25 years and have authored many widely adopted textbooks including Patterns for College Writing (2009), Foundations First: Sentences and Paragraphs (2008), and the new text Focus on Writing: Paragraphs and Essays (2008).
Laurie Kirszner teaches composition, literature, and creative writing at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. Stephen Mandell is the founder and former director of the basic writing program at Drexel University, where he teaches composition, literature, and technical and business writing.