I reside in Kedgwick, along with my wife Betty and a gaggle of children, grand and great grandchildren. We are all nestled in the French speaking part of the Appalachian Mountains in Atlantic Canada

I am a 13th generation descendant of my maternal and paternal ancestors who arrived in North America in 1637 and 1657. Their stories and those of others who accompanied them inspired me to write Mary of the Woods

Interested in photography very early in life, by the age of 16 I was fortunate to have my first filmmaking experience with the National Film Board of Canada. From then on, I have been hooked to the art of storytelling and made it a 45-year career. In whatever form that may take. Be it fiction or non-fiction the importance for me is always to communicate efficiently arrays of words, images, sounds, smells, movements to evoke emotion, perspective, and reflection.

An important turning point in my life was when I had received the privilege of documenting ancient knowledge as related to me by my good friend Gilbert Sewell. An elder from the local Mi’kmaq community to whom I have dedicated Mary of the Woods

For 16 months we met several times a week and he would relay the depth and the vastness of his understanding of the natural and spiritual world.  Some of which I have included in my novel.

From then on, my life changed. I adopted a voluntary simplicity lifestyle, got rid of all my possessions, lifted an enormous weight of my shoulders, and undertook to view living on this planet in a whole new perspective. One of which I am committed to sharing.

My wife and I want to leave a very small carbon footprint on this planet, so we built an ecological strawbale home using mostly all local recycled materials. No plastics, no cement, no chemicals in the home. Although yet self-sufficient, we are slowly endeavoring in that direction. We raise a large part of our own food for us and our large family.