John Barclay Pick was a writer and journalist born in 1921 in Leicester. Pick received his education at Sidcot School, a Quaker institution in Somerset. He then attended Cambridge University for a year but left at the outbreak of Second World War, and due to his beliefs as a conscientious objector, joined the Friends' Ambulance Unit. In 1943 he met, and eventually married, Gene Pick, and had two children, both sons (Peter Pick and David Pick). Pick is the author of the novels, Out of the Pit, The Lonely Aren't Alone, Under the Crust, and A Land Fit for Eros, the last co-authored with John Atkins. He has also written a number of short stories, articles, poetry, and nonfiction works. The Last Valley is his first book published in the United States. During the 1980's he and his family settled in Kirkcudbrightshire, where he began publishing pamphlets of his poetry. Mr. Pick passed away on January 25th, 2015,