Valerie Elliot Shepard was only ten months old in January 1956 when her father, Jim Elliot, was killed, and then spent her childhood through age eight in Ecuador alongside her mother. A graduate of Wheaton College, Valerie and her husband, Walt, are the parents of eight children. She is also the author of a children's book (Pilipinto's Happiness) containing memories of her Amazon upbringing.
