Born into poverty in northern England in 1921, "GW" served as a British Commando during WWII. After 7 actions in harrowing circumstances, he was shot through the head in 1944, three days before the end of the Italian Campaign. He was in hospital with a paralyzed face for 11 months, and it was there he began to search for some greater meaning in life. After the war he married, and in 1953 emigrated to Canada. At 41 he was ordained as a minister in the United Church. For 28 years he ministered, spending much of his time working with alcoholics, drug addicts, aboriginals, and others marginalized by society. He left the church in 1981, and though he maintains deeps spiritual beliefs, he takes no formal services. He is the author of What We Want: The Desiderata Demystified (2006).

[BCBW 2006]