Dan Poynter (September 17, 1938 – November 3, 2015) was an American author, consultant, publisher, professional speaker, and parachute designer.

He began his career managing a parachute company in Oakland, California.

His column in Parachutist Magazine led him to write books on parachutes[3] and skydiving.

[6] In 1979, drawing on what he learned in book writing and publishing, he wrote The Self-Publishing Manual.

Poynter earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science from California State University, Chico, and also attended San Francisco Law School.

He fully recovered in 2014, and wrote a book on his experiences, Transplant Handbook for Patients: Replacing Stem Cells in Your Bone Marrow.