Gerard Benson was born in London, England on April 9, 1931. For two years, he was an intelligence coder in Gibraltar for the Royal Navy. He taught voice production, diction, and verse-speaking at the Central School for Speech and Drama for 20 years. He published 10 volumes of poems and poetry collections for children including The Magnificent Callisto, Evidence of Elephants, and To Catch an Elephant. He also edited several poetry collections including This Poem Doesn't Rhyme. He died on April 28, 2014 at the age of 83. An autobiography, Memoirs of a Jobbing Poet, will be published after his death.
EDITOR BIOGRAPHY:Three compilers who alone determine the selection of poems:Judith Chernaik � American academic from Brooklyn, now a London resident.Gerard Benson � widely published professional poet, gives regular poetry performances, lives in Bradford.Cicely Herbert � widely published, London resident, also professional poet.