I was born in New Brunswick, a land of black woods, wild river valleys, and long white winters. Snowstorms were, for my friends and I, a magical gift that closed schools. We played outside all day, oblivious to the passage of time, immersed – literally –in the freshly fallen, and sometimes still falling, snow. My literature teacher tried to teach us Shakespeare, but I was immune to all that then. Life was outside, not in a book. When I was in high school my family moved to Edmonton, Alberta, where my father had found a job. I studied at the University of Alberta. A world of culture, of knowledge and imagination, of the possibility of wisdom, of seeing the part in light of the whole, opened before me. At last, rather late at 19, I was ready to become less ignorant.
Later, I studied law at the University of Victoria. After my father died, I quit law and moved to Asia for nearly a year. When I returned to Canada I moved to Toronto, where I practiced law for sixteen years – twelve as a Defence lawyer, and four as a Crown prosecutor. To me, then and now, this work seemed to have an intrinsic value. Though the work was very stressful, working in the law courts taught me a great deal about the complexity of life, and the vital role of justice, not just in the statute books, but in our own hearts and minds.
I feel blessed to live in a country in which I can say or write what I wish, even if I am wrong. I feel even luckier that circumstances have allowed me time to devote to writing, reading, thinking, and going for long walks. I gather more insights on those walks than when I am in front of a desk. I hope to contribute to helping out as best I can, in my own way, as so many today are suffering oppression and poverty, or simply living badly through ignorance. While I cannot do much to help, you do what you can.