Janet Gallant, the wig-maker, is the mother of two grown daughters. After thirty years in Calgary where she worked as an office administrator, most recently in the renewable energy sector, she relocated to Lake Country, BC, where she works as a wig-maker and consultant for women with alopecia and cancer patients. After her relocation to Lake Country, Gallant and Thesen, neighbours at first, became friends after spending an evening together waiting to know if they would be evacuated because of a wildfire in the area. Gallant wanted to tell her story, Thesen wanted to hear it. Gallant insisted she wasn't a writer; Thesen is an established Canadian poet and editor. Thus began what has turned out to be this tale.
Sharon Thesen is the author of a dozen books of poetry, a three-time Governor-General's Award finalist, editor of two editions of The New Long Poem Anthology, and a Professor Emerita of Creative Writing at UBC's Okanagan campus.