Len Gasparini was born in Windsor, Ontario, across the river from Detroit. A former semi-pro baseball player, he quit school at 17 to embark on a lyric quest for objective experience; and he spent some time in the U.S. Navy. His books poetry include Breaking and Entering, Ink From an Octopus, Selected Poems, and, for children, I Once Had a Pet Praying Mantis. In 1990, he was awarded the F.G. Bressani Literary Prize for poetry. Mr. Gasparini has also been a poetry-review editor for Books in Canada and Poetry Canada Review. His poetry has been anthogized in Canada and the U.S. He lives in Toronto.