Don Kelly is a retired science teacher, outdoor education coordinator, science consultant and elementary school teacher from Oromocto, New Brunswick. He drew on his experiences giving orienteering workshops and working as a geologist on Deer Island while he was writing Deer Island Mystery.
He is also an amateur astronomer and a member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC). Don was a founding member of the Dr. William Brydone Jack Astronomy Club in Fredericton, NB, and he currently teaches astronomy at the University of New Brunswick through the college of Extended Learning. His two previous books—Mary Lou’s New Telescope and Le Nouveau Telescope de Chloe—were selected by Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk as part of his personal library during his six-month stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS), The RASC is exploring the claim that these two books may be the longest travelled children’s books in the history of publishing, having travelled 12.5 million kilometres.