Des Kennedy is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, author, and environmental activist. Born in Liverpool in 1945, Des arrived in Canada at age ten. In 1968 he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the Passionate Monastic Seminary in Jamaica, New York. Soon after, he moved to Denman Island, British Columbia, where he and his partner Sandy built their own house and gardens. Featured many times on television shows such as Harrowsmith Country Life , The Canadian Gardener and CBC's Midday , he won a National Journalism Award in 1990 and received a Commemorative Medal at the 125th Anniversary of Confederation. Des has published three collections of essays and one novel, two of which were shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour. He currently writes a column for GardenWise magazine in Vancouver and is a regular contributor to Gardening Life magazine in Toronto.