Ken Rivard was born and raised on a working-class Montreal street inhabited more by rats than people. He was surrounded by fields, factories, railroad tracks, and trains where, as a kid, he played endlessly with almost no adult supervision. It was heaven. Later he earned a Master's Degree from McGill University and taught at all levels including Mount Royal University in Calgary. Mostly because of the expansive Alberta sky, the sunshine, and the Rocky Mountains, he has been living and writing in Calgary for many years.