I came to Canada from Norway on a ship dancing through a hurricane, coming through New York City following World War 2, with my parents and brother. I was 2 months old. Growing up in Canada through the late 50's and 60's was as good a life as could be imagined. My parents were open minded and I always thank them for allowing me to have my own thoughts and dreams and directions. I write songs, I sing and play the guitar. I draw pictures of whatever sparks my curiosity, especially warm funny things. I write poems and stories of love, life, beauty, sorrow, and joy. I am an architect and have buildings standing up in many different places and other countries. Imagination is what drives my heart. Give me a blank piece of paper and let me draw one or a thousand lines, and even if I don't come up with something good it is still fun. Everything we do we learn from it. Many of these poems and illustrations were completed when I was living in the Himalaya Mountains of Yunnan, China. I found that travelling and immersing oneself in another culture opened my mind to things I previously never thought of, which certainly included a love of simple beauty. But I also saw that the method of education for young children there seemed overly ridged and discouraged imaginative thinking. That is when I came to appreciate the opportunity we all share when we are young, to decide to have our own mind, to live and learn, and thus the inspiration for this book. I am now living in a small cottage on a lake north of Toronto . Enjoying the lovely summer sunsets and the storms of winter, writing songs and stories, drawing funny pictures. Still practicing architecture. Still learning. Many of the illustrations in this book were used in a previous publication, " A Child's Garden of Verses." written by Robert Louis Stephenson, and translated into Chinese. That publication was sold out years ago and once again I own the copy-write to all the drawings. Please enjoy my imagination.
