Adam Parfrey was born in Los Angeles, California on April 12, 1957. He co-founded Amok Press with Kenneth Swezey in 1986. Parfrey was also the founder and publisher of Feral House Press. He was the author or editor of several books including It's a Man's World: Men's Adventure Magazines, The Postwar Pulps; Citizen Keane: The Big Lies Behind the Big Eyes; Ritual America: Secret Brotherhoods and Their Influence on American Society; and Cult Rapture: Revelations of the Apocalyptic Mind. He was the co-editor of Exit magazine and appeared in and co-wrote Crispin Glover's controversial What Is It? Parfrey and his band, the Tards, recorded two CDs. He died on May 10, 2018 at the age of 61.