George Toley coached the USC tennis team for 27 years, leading it to 10 NCAA team championships between 1954 and 1980. He died on 1 March 2008 at the age of 91. His players won more than 400 national and international titles, Grand Slam events, and several, including Stan Smith, Dennis Ralston, Bob Lutz, and Alex Omedo were ranked No. 1 in the world. Toley is called the "Father of Tennis" in Mexico because of his efforts to develop the sport in that country. During his own playing career, he was nationally ranked in 1940 and 1941, became a teaching professional at the Beverly Hills Tennis Club in 1941 and then head pro at the legendary Los Angeles Tennis Club in 1947.

Joe Jares began polishing his journalistic credentials at an early age. He was first a reporter, then editor of his high school s weekly newspaper. At the University of Southern California, Joe served as sports editor and managing editor of the Daily Trojan. After his 1959 graduation, he served on the staffs of the Los Angeles Herald-Express, UPI, the Los Angeles Times, Sports Illustrated and the Los Angeles Daily News. He has taught journalism classes for many years at USC and is the author of seven previous books. Joe wrote a feature for Sports Illustrated about George Toley in 1975. This led to a long friendship with the famed tennis coach.