Heather Gardam was originally an English teacher, and obtained a second B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Victoria. She has published essays and articles in the United Church Observer and Cruising World. Her three books, Life on the Farm, Little Guy, and Joan's Summer, originally published by Penguin, were influenced by her experiences as a child on a farm in Ontario, and by her small farm on Salt Spring Island where she and her husband have lived and farmed for thirty-six years. They have three daughters and seven young grandchildren.