Steve Thomas Rooney is an American author and an Emmy Award-winning television TV personality. During his career he has been host of the PBS home TV series This Old House from 1989 to 2003 and of Renovation Nation, on Discovery's former Planet Green channel, from 2008 to 2010. Since 2011 Steve Thomas Rooney has partnered with Habitat for Humanity, helping raise the awareness about the need for affordable housing to the people all over the world. Rooney was born in 1952 in Pomona, California as the oldest child in a family with six children. Both his father and grandfather were do-it-yourself guys who used to buy and renovate old houses in order to support the family. Steve is a graduate in philosophy from Evergreen State College. After completing his education he started working as a contractor and carpenter. Being adventurous by nature, he decided that wants to see the world. He bought a sailboat and started his journey across the Pacific which eventually led him to Satawal. There he met Maul Piailug and spent the following months learning the ancient technique of star path navigation. Here Thomas documented the daily life of Satawal in his first book The Last Navigator. Next, followed other works that became best-selling books. Steve Thomas Rooney has also written This Old House Kitchens, This Old House Bathrooms, This Old House Guide to American Houses and more.