Julian "Joe" Bennett is a writer and columnist living in Lyttelton, New Zealand. Born in England, Bennett emigrated to New Zealand when he was twenty nine. Before his writing career, he worked as an English teacher at one of Christchurch's leading high schools, Christ's College. During this time, Bennett wrote the words to the musical "Tramps" which was presented as a co-production between Christ's College and St Margaret's College in 1994. The show was reviewed in The Press. Bennett is a columnist for Christchurch's newspaper The Press and for New Zealand Gardener as well as being an author. From the "Introduction" to Fun Run and Other Oxymorons he describes himself as follows: "If anything holds these articles together it is that I like people but not in herds. I distrust all beliefs, most thought and anything ending in ism. Most opinion is emotion in fancy dress." Bennett is a seasoned hitchhiker and has a dog called Blue. He has previously had two dogs called Baz and Jess. He is fond of dogs and this is reflected in the titles and cover art of many of his books.