Farsheed Ferdowsi was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. He entered the United States in 1973 to pursue higher education. Mr. Ferdowsi holds a master's degree in structural engineering from U.C. Berkeley and a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Vanderbilt University.

Following a year of postgraduate studies at Vanderbilt University, Farsheed Ferdowsi founded a business software development firm in 1979. This was followed by a string of other companies in the information technology industry including PayMaxx which was ranked among the top-10 payroll service providers in the U.S.

Farsheed Ferdowsi was recognized by the Nashville Business Journal as the Entrepreneur of the year in 2002. Throughout the years, he has served on the Board of Directors of several for-profit as well non-profit organizations in Middle-Tennessee.

Mr. Ferdowsi has two children and resides near Nashville, Tennessee with his wife Aram.

Grave Distractions Publications has been involved in support projects related to Mr. Ferdowsi's novel Mushroom in the Sand.