Lionel Casson was a classicist, professor emeritus at New York University, and a specialist in maritime history. He earned his BA in 1934 at New York University and in 1936 became an assistant professor. He went on to earn his PhD there in 1939. In 2005, he was awarded the Archaeological Institute of America Gold Medal.
John Glouchevitch began honing his craft as a voice artist at age three, when to the dismay of his parents, he began to imitate the accents of their British family friends. Over the ensuing years he trained as an actor, improviser, and writer, eventually graduating with a BA in theater and English from Middlebury College.