Mark Kearney was born in Toronto, grew up in Pickering, Ontario, and graduated in journalism from the University of Western Ontario in 1977. Kearney has been a full-time freelance writer since 1989 after working as a reporter for the London Free Press and in public relations for the Ontario government. Kearney's articles have appeared in some sixty publications in North America, and he teaches writing at the University of Western Ontario and Lambton College. He is married and lives in London, Ontario. Randy Ray was born and raised in Toronto and is a graduate of the University of Toronto and Ryerson University. He has been a freelance writer since 1989 after working as a reporter for the London Free Press for thirteen years, including three years as the newspaper's Parliament Hill bureau chief. Ray's articles have appeared in more than fifty publications, including The Ottawa Citizen and The Globe and Mail. He is married, has three children, and lives in Ottawa, Ontario.