Ilias (Louis) G. Papadatos was born in the year 1970 in Athens, Greece. He spent most of his first six years on the island of Syros, where he lived with his great grandmother, grandmother, mother, and sister. His father then moved the family to Bergenfield, New Jersey. In a few years they bought a local diner, only to have it go under at the close of the
disco era! The family then relocated to West Milford, NJ, after buying a small greasy spoon there. Eli attended Georgetown University, in the nation's capital, from 1988 to 1995. It took him seven years to graduate because he suffered three mental breakdowns there. He briefly attended St. John University's Law School and then Montclair University before having to drop out due to poor health. After spending the next fifteen years vegetating in a psychiatrist's chair at the request of his family, he dropped out of therapy at the age of forty to begin writing this collection of poetry. Though most of these poems date from this period, some go back to his teenage years. He has also compiled material for 24 novels, two philosophy books, and several other minor works, though he believes his battle with mental illness will prevent him from writing the latter.