O'Neil Pemberton was born on the tiny Caribbean island of Nevis in the West Indies. His mother died in the Christena Ferry Disaster when he was 5 years old and was then raised by his grandmother for several years. When his grandmother returned to England, he was taken in by a wonderful woman named Hermina - later to be called Vovo. Vovo welcomed O'Neil into her family where he now has brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews! He immigrated to the United States when he was 18-years-old thanks to the generosity of a stranger (at the time!) and has worked all kinds of jobs to earn a living -- working in a shipyard, direct mailing, landscaping, and maintenance work. O'Neil has a tangible joy for life, is extremely handy and hardworking, loves creating crafts and has an inherent gift of poetry and photography. Most of the photos in his books are ones he has taken. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife Maria and has 3 grown children.