Bert Russell was born on February 15, 1909 in Harrison, Idaho and was raised on his family’s sawmill. During World War II, he worked as an electrician at the Vancouver Shipyards in Washington. He also found work as a logger and timber cruiser, eventually owning his own lumber company (Russell Lumber Company) in Springston, Idaho. In 1946, he married his wife, Marie, with whom he had two children: Judy and Walter Russell. In addition to his career in lumber, Russell also worked as a land developer, rancher, and writer. He wrote five books: North Folk of the Coeur d’Alene River, Caulked Boots and Other Northwest Writings, The Sawdust Dream, Hardships and Happy Times, and Rock Burst. The writing of Russell’s final book, Rock Burst, was assisted by Marie, who completed transcribing his interviews of old miners from the Harrison area after he was moved to a nursing home in 1993 and unable to do so himself. In his final years, Russell was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease; he passed away on April 4, 1997 in Harrison, Idaho.