John Burbidge

John was born and educated in Perth, Western Australia. He has lived and worked in India, Belgium, Canada and the United States, as well as visited 37 other countries. His homes have included an inner-city ghetto of Chicago, a remote aboriginal community in northwestern Australia, and numerous Indian villages.

His professional skills are similarly varied, ranging from community development and group facilitation to fundraising, public relations, writing and editing. He has authored a literary biography and a memoir, edited four other volumes, and has had numerous articles published in books, journals, magazines, and newspapers in Australia, Europe, India and North America.

He was the co-founder of the Seattle chapter of the Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force and served as secretary of the Decatur Shores Community Association. He has administered two online writing groups -- one on memoir writing and the other a story project with former high-school classmates.

His personal interests include tai chi, cricket, Australian Rules Football and classical music. He lives with his husband on Molokai, Hawaii.