Yes, lots!

I've hiked up a mountain with Ainslie Manson and done a crossword puzzle with Julie Lawson. I've swum in Georgian Bay with Marie-Louise Gay and cross-country skied along the Humber River with Anne Laurel Carter. I've had coffee with Robert Munsch, drunk wine with Ted Staunton, and eaten lunch with Sharon Jennings, Claire Mackay, and Hadley Dyer. I've partied with Kevin Major and Barbara Reid, and slept at Lena Coakley's cottage. I've met many other Canadian Authors through CANSCAIP. I've also met my favourite New Zealand writer, Margaret Mahy, once in Canada and once in the States. I've also had dinner with Philip Pullman at his home in Oxford, England.

In 1987, I had the chance to travel to England with Jean Little, Monica Hughes, and Camilla Gryski. The Canadian Children's Book Centre sent us there as part of an exchange of Canadian and British authors. (American writer, Katherine Paterson, came with us, too, as Jean Little's "guide dog".)  When the British authors came to Canada, they had dinner at my house. Imagine - Phillipa Pearce, Jan Mark, Jill Paton Walsh, and John Rowe Townsend all in my living room at the same time!

How many of the famous authors and illustrators in this photo can you identify? (Click for an enlarged view.) I will send a free book to anyone who identifies the one who does not live in Canada.

After I met him at the Stratford Book festival in one of his last public appearances, he wrote a column about our meeting in his final 'Gzowski's People' column for the Globe & Mail.