John grew up on Vancouver Island before traveling widely throughout North America North America, Asia and Europe. He moved to Montreal for university studies and stayed after completing studies at the Université de Montréal and at Concordia U. John married a teacher and lived for a while in an Inuit village before becoming a stay-at-home dad.

For many years, he rarely went anywhere without at least one of his three children, now aged 15, 13 and ten. The kids provided valuable editorial comments as to the relative merits of each site described in his books.

John works as a freelance journalist and his articles - often combining parenting and local travel - have appeared recently in The Gazette, Maisonneuve Magazine, Montréal pour Enfants, and Pedal Magazine. John also does technical and medical writing.

John is available for speaking events in both English and French in the Montreal and Ottawa areas. Typically, these are interactive sessions in libraries and community centres, involving questions from the audience rather than a narrative reading of passages. He is also available to encourage young writers and relate his own experience in becoming a successful author with his first manuscript. Bookings are normally made through the author's email address: john@montrealwithkids.com