Thomas L. German was born and raised along the Missouri River in Yankton, South Dakota. His father was a cowboy balladeer, writer, and interviewer for Radio Station WNAX. In his youth, Tom would travel around the five state area with him during the summer. After studies in Germany as a Fulbright Scholar, he pursued a career in medicine culminating in an orthopedic residency at Duke University. He and his wife, Georgene, after an Army stint in Nuremberg, Germany, settled into practice and raised a family in Savannah, Georgia. The Dakota Vine evolved from his plains experiences and writing imagination.