J. Edward Chamberlin was born in Vancouver, and educated at the universities of British Columbia, Oxford and Toronto. Since 1970, he has been on the faculty of the University of Toronto, where he is now University Professor Emeritus of English and Comparative Literature; but his interest in stories and songs has taken him around the world. He worked on the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, was Senior Research Associate with the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, has worked extensively on native land claims in Canada, the United States, South Africa and Australia, and has lectured widely on literary, historical and cultural issues. His books include The Harrowing of Eden: White Attitudes Towards Native Americans; Ripe Was the Drowsy Hour: The Age of Oscar Wilde; Come Back To Me My Language: Poetry and the West Indies; If This Is Your Land, Where Are Your Stories? Finding Common Ground; Horse: How the Horse Has Shaped Civilizations; and Island: How Islands Transform the World. His latest book is The Banker and the Blackfoot: A Memoir of My Grandfather in Chinook Country. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada, and lives with his wife, Lorna Goodison, in Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia.