Ginnie Bedggood graduated in History from Queen Mary College, University of London, and post-graduated in Public and Social Administration from the LSE, Southampton University, and Brunel University. She worked as a probation officer in Soho, London, in the 1960s and spent seventeen years as a social work academic at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, before moving to the Dominican Republic. She lived in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic from 1992 until her untimely death in 2010. The later editions of Culture Smart! Dominican Republic have been revised and updated by co-author Ilana Benady. Ginnie is also the author of Quisqueya: Mad Dogs and English Couple, a narrative that charts the early adjustment to her new surroundings. Originally from Gibraltar, Ilana Benady is a social anthropology and political sciences graduate with more than 25 years experience of communications and development work in Latin America and the Caribbean. She has lived in the Dominican Republic for 18 years. Now based in Punta Cana, she is married to well-known Dominican photojournalist Pedrito Guzman, who took the photo for the book's cover and several of the inside illustrations. Ilana currently works as a Spanish to English translator mainly for international development agencies and non-profit organisations, as well as for private sector clients in several countries. She and Pedrito have a teenage son. As well as Culture Smart! Dominican Republic, Ilana is the co-author of Expat FAQs - Moving to and Living in the Dominican Republic, also with Ginnie Bedggood. Co-author Ginnie, a retired sociology lecturer from the UK who lived in Puerto Plata for over 17 years, passed away before she could see the fruits of her labour, a reflection of her great love, respect and admiration for her adopted country and its people. Since then, Ilana has revised and updated the later editions of Culture Smart! Dominican Republic. Ilana's other publications include Aunt Clara's Dominican Cookbook, co-authored with award-winning blogger and food photographer Clara Gonzalez. Ginnie also wrote Mad Dogs and English Couple, a memoir of her and her husband's early years as expats adjusting to life in the Dominican Republic.