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Professor Gervase Phinn taught in a range of schools for fourteen years before becoming an education adviser and school inspector. He is now a freelance lecturer, broadcaster and writer, a consultant for the Open University, Honorary Fellow of St. John's College, York, Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) of the University of Leicester, Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) of The University of Hull and the Fellow and Visiting Professor of Education at The University of Teesside. In 2005 the highest academic award of Sheffield Hallam University, Doctor of the University (D.Univ.) was conferred upon him by the Chancellor, Professor Lord Robert Winston. In 2006 he became President of The School Library Association.

He has published many articles, chapters and books and edited a wide range of poetry and short story collections. His academic texts include: Young Readers and their Books, published by David Fulton, Touches of Beauty: Poetry in the Primary School and Reading Matters. Additionally he has published collections of his own plays, poems, picture books and short stories, including his anthologies of verse : Classroom Creatures, It Takes One to Know One, The Day Our Teacher Went Batty and Family Phantoms, His books of stories for children, What's the Matter, Royston Knapper? and Royston Knapper: The Return of the Rogue were published by Child's Play and became best­sellers. His picture book Our Cat Cuddles appeared earlier this year.

Gervase Phinn is probably best known for his best-selling autobiographical novels: The Other Side of the Dale, Over Hill and Dale and Head Over Heels in the Dales, published by Michael Joseph, which he read on the BBC Radio 4 programme 'Book of the Week.' Head Over Heels in the Dales was a number one best­seller. The fourth book in the series, Up and Down in the Dales, was published in March 2004.

In 2004 Gervase Phinn was honoured to receive "The Speaker of the Year Award' from the Association of Speakers' Clubs and his most recent book, Up and Down in the Dales, won the Customer Choice Award at the Spoken Book Awards. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Honorary Fellow of the English Speaking Board, he has a particular interest in children's reading and is widely known as a lively and entertaining speaker. He is married with four grown-up children.