Ken Kraft and Pat Kraft were living in Santa Rosa, California when they created this manuscript. Ken Kraft wrote a number of books with subjects related to agriculture and gardening; his prior book"Gardens to order," the study of the Burppe Seed Co., stimulated his interest in Luther Burbank. Ken Kraft and his wife, Pat Kraft, moved to Santa Rosa to research and write this book. "Luther Burbank : the wizard and the man" was their only published collaboration.

Luther Burbank (March 7, 1849 - April 11, 1926) was an American botanist, horticulturist and pioneer in agricultural science. He developed more than 800 strains and varieties of plants over his 55-year career. Burbank's varied creations included fruits, flowers, grains, grasses, and vegetables. He developed a spineless cactus (useful for cattle-feed) and the plumcot. Burbank's most successful strains and varieties include the Shasta daisy, the fire poppy (note possible confusion with the California wildflower, Papaver californicum which is also called a fire poppy), the 'July Elberta' peach, the 'Santa Rosa' plum, the 'Flaming Gold' nectarine, the 'Wickson' plum (named after agronomist Edward J. Wickson), the freestone peach, and the white blackberry. A natural genetic variant of the Burbank potato with russet-colored skin later became known as the Russet Burbank potato. This large, brown-skinned, white-fleshed potato has become the world's predominant potato in food processing.