Barbara Comyns (1909-92) was born in Bidford-on-Avon in Warwickshire. She was an artist and writer, worked in advertising, dealt in old cars and antiques, bred poodles and developed property. She was twice married, and she and her second husband lived in Spain for eighteen years, returning to the UK in the early 1970s. She is the author of eleven books, including Sisters by a River (1947), Our Spoons Came from Woolworths (1950), The Vet's Daughter (1959), The Skin Chairs (1962) and A Touch of Mistletoe (1967). She died in Shropshire in 1992.
Mary Littrell is Professor and Department Head in Design and Merchandising at Colorado State University. Dr. Littrell�s research addresses multiple facets of business social responsibility, with special focus on artisan enterprises. Across her internationally recognized work, she has examined how textile artisan enterprises achieve viability in the increasingly competitive global market for artisan products.