Steve Magnusen enjoyed a nationally recognized management and engineering career in north suburban Chicago after receiving his degree from Purdue University. He has led several professional and non-profit organizations, and served fifteen years as an infantry and armor officer in the US Army Reserve.

Steve’s particular interest in the Civil War’s elite “Iron Brigade” led him to diligently research the life of Rufus Dawes, the intrepid young commander of the Sixth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. Extensive original documentation revealed new details of battlefield heroism and his incredible wartime romance with young Mary Beman Gates of historic Marietta, Ohio. Steve was inspired to bring their captivating personal saga to life in To My Best Girl.