Stanford "Ford" Filbrick Pines (born June 15, about 15 minutes before Stan Pines), also known as The Author, or simply Great Uncle or Grunkle Ford, is a paranormal investigator who came to Gravity Falls, Oregon, to study the huge concentration of supernatural activity in and around the town. After spending years cataloging his research in a series of journals, he disappeared into an alternate dimension. In the summer of 2012, he came back to his twin brother, as well as Dipper and Mabel.