Ray MacLeod is a retired teacher, as well as a former columnist and reporter with the Halifax Chronicle Herald and several other daily and weekly newspapers. His creation of a full-credit high school applied journalism course won him the 1993 Hilroy Fellowshop for outstanding innovation in Canadian education. Ray is a former information officer for the Newfoundland Department of Resources and a lifelong outdoorsman and naturalist. He lives in Waverly, Nova Scotia.