Kate Petty lectured on writing and editing for Middlesex University. She was the commissioning editor for Cornwall's bio-diversity attraction, the Eden Project. She was a well-known and respected writer of non-fiction and educational books, writing for publishers such as Orion, Macmillan and Random House. She was the author of the Around the World series with Oxfam published by Frances Lincoln. Sadly, she died in 2007.