The late John McBeath was born in New Zealand and came to Australia so long ago that he arrived by ship. A freelance writer, John lives with his wife Mary overlooking the Gulf of St Vincent in Adelaide. For the past ten years he has been a music critic for The Australian and Advertiser newspapers. He has won national prizes for music and travel writing, and enjoyed a life of daedalian variety. Returning after five years in India John managed community radio stations in Cairns and then Alice Springs where he met Mary. The pair moved to Adelaide, in 1996, where they set up a small wholesale business importing coffee beans from Laos.