Born in 1963, Leslie Reed grew up exploring the rolling hills, scattered streams and small 
forests of Central New York. Nestled into her paternal family - grandmother, aunts, uncles 
and many cousins - twelve in all, she was deeply influenced by the constant presence of this 
creative, athletic, entrepreneurial side of her family. Her intellectual, well traveled maternal 
side, scattered around the country as are many Navy families, was well represented by her 
mother’s love of language, her artistic pursuits and her passion for the natural world. In 
addition to her mother’s tours of gardens and naming of wildflowers, butterflies, stones and 
trees, Leslie’s father invited her on early morning fishing trips at secluded streams and 
ponds, bringing her into the quiet of nature and calling attention to its power. It’s hard to say 
what influences a poet to find her Muse, but on reflection, it was her family and their deep 
spirituality that gave Leslie the possibility of receiving the poetry in this book. The 
opportunity to be on that beautiful, windswept beach in Broadstairs, England, came from her 
daughter, Morgain, who at the tender age of 15, moved to those shores with her father and 
sister, Charlotte.

Leslie Reed attended Colgate University, where she completed a BA in Russian Studies - 
including a magical summer studying Russian in Moscow, USSR. She began her Master’s 
program at Middlebury College in their immersion French School and completed the degree 
while living in Paris. After teaching French at Tufts University, she moved with her husband to 
Hawaii, where she began a working in healthcare philanthropy, a career path that pressed her 
to develop her writing skills. Ultimately, she won a Fulbright Fellowship to study philanthropy 
in the European Union, an adventure that propelled her into consulting. The fluidity of 
consulting work has allowed Leslie’s visual arts and writing pursuits to flourish. To date, 
Leslie has shown her photography at REN Gallery in Los Angeles, at 111 Minna Gallery in San 
Francisco and at York Street Gallery in Ramsgate, England. Leslie Reed currently lives and 
works in Berkeley California, just down the hill from the Tamalpais Running Fence.