Eric W Deakin was born in the United Kingdom in 1947. He emigrated to Australia with his family while still a child. He began a career in Electronics in the 1960s. He retired as a fire service officer in 1996 when he built his own home in a small fishing village on Kangaroo Island. He has been a yachtsman and lived aboard his yacht for 15 years. He now travels aboard a 13 ton truck he has converted into a mobile home with his wife Judy and his standard poodle Grace. He has a passion for science and technology and a disdain for the dogmas of politics and religion.