Margaret Thompson came to Canada from England in 1967 and taught English at secondary and post-secondary levels until her retirement in 1998. She is the author of seven books, which include a BC2000 Book Award-winning YA novel, short stories, and two collections of personal essays, including Adrift on the Ark: Our Connection to the Natural World. She has also contributed to five anthologies. Margaret is a past president of the Federation of BC Writers and now lives in Victoria, BC, with a basset hound, a neurotic cat, and an itinerant peacock.