Robert Vavra's sense of adventure and creativity dates back to his childhood on his great uncle's ranch in southern California. After graduating from the University of Southern California, he journeyed to Spain with the intention of documenting for a book the rapidly vanishing breed of fighting bull. While doing research aon the animal, he decided to handle the photography and illustrating of the text. His skill as a photographer was so masterly that author James Michner made a comment stating that out of all the writers photographers that he encountered in a lifetime of traveling the world, none could both write and photograph with the artistry of Robert Vavra.