Dawnine Spivak is living and writing in Vermont. She lives in rented farmhouses where old maples line the dirt road, near violet mountains where cold and poverty protect the beauty of the land. She has taught the Japanese novel and poetry at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Presently Dawnine teaches literature at Sterling College and was a recent member of the Vermont Anti-Hunger Corps.

Demi, along with her husband, Tze-si Huang, has been a practicing Buddhist for more than twenty years. She is the author and illustrator of many children's books, including "Firebird", "The Dalai Lama", "Buddha", and "The Dragon s Tale". Her book "The Empty Pot" was selected by former First Lady Barbara Bush in 1990 as one of the books to be read on the ABC Radio Network Program Mrs. Bush's Story Time. Demi was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and started drawing at an early age. She lives in Carnation, Washington.