Bernice Thurman Hunter was born in 1922. She spent her adult years as an Eaton's employee, and did not publish her first book, That Scatterbrain Booky, until 1981, when she was a grandmother. She went on to write many more highly acclaimed historical novels: two more in the Booky series, and the equally successful margaret series. She received the 1989 Vicky Metcalk Award for her body of work, and was made a Member of the Order of Canada shortly before her death in 2002.