Ryan, fellow of the Explorers Club and Britain's Royal Geographical Society, has some working knowledge of Spanish, German, French, Italian, Yiddish, modern and biblical Hebrew, Arabic and ancient Sumerian. But his accessible prose has been refined by years teaching at community colleges and writing several "Complete Idiots" books ("The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ancient Egypt," "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Biblical Mysteries"). Ryan grew up in California but landed at PLU as an undergraduate. He fell hard for mountaineering, rock climbing and archaeology. Between getting a master's and doctorate, he was continually back and forth to Egypt to work on digs.