<IMG src="http://suite101.com/files/topics/5536/files/50ANN01S.jpg" hspace="5" vspace="1" border="2" height="400" width="267" align="left" alt="">An artist in the broadest sense of the word, naturalist, and gay father. Some of Van's highest values are integrity, beauty, compassion and creativity.
He was born in Windsor, Ontario in 1964 and grew up nearby on the Canadian shore of Lake Erie. In 1987 he completed an honours B.Sc. at University of Guelph with a major in wildlife biology and minor in ecology. During the summers Van worked in agricultural and forestry research. In 1988 he completed a diploma in journalism at Conestoga College in Cambridge, Ontario, where he was assistant editor of the college paper. After graduating he worked as a magazine journalist, and reporter for a community paper, also doing photography, copy editing and layout design. For five years he worked as a media relations writer for the international relief and development agency, World Vision Canada.
<IMG src="http://www.suite101.com/files/topics/5536/files/WINDOW2.jpg" hspace="5" vspace="1" border="2" height="220" width="150" align="right">Van is now pursuing the path to which he most aspires, freelance writing from his home. His specialty is science and nature writing, and yet Van's dream is to become a published novelist and poet.
Van lives alone for 10 months of the year in a flat above a florist shop in Guelph, Ontario, a city of 96,000 with an active arts community and distinctive for its strong environmental initiatives. During July and August, when Van is a full-time single father, he and his daughters like to spend extended time at the family cottage in Central Ontario. Marian and Brenna are nature enthusiasts, too.
<IMG src="http://suite101.com/files/topics/5536/files/MILKWE-S.jpg" border="2" alt="Milkweed by Van, copyright 2000" hspace="5" vspace="1" height="200" width="147" align="left">Besides writing, he enjoys camping, hiking, canoeing, gardening and drawing. He also has a passion for 19th and early 20th century music.
Van is a copy editor and contributing editor at Suite101, writing the weekly column, <A href="http://suite101.com/welcome.cfm/5536">Living With Nature</A>. He has organized two Suite events, <A href="http://suite101.com/event.cfm/198">Black Tuesday: Focus on healing</A>, following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and <A href="http://suite101.com/event.cfm/149">GLBT Pride</A> for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.
To learn more about Van, you may also visit his home page, <A href="http://www.geocities.com/vwaffle/">Silvan's Glade</A>. It is his place for personal expression on the Internet, presenting some of his Web-published poetry and other writings, but focuses especially on exploring mysticism in nature writing.