Gerard Mc Dermott was born in the coal mining village of Esh Winning in County Durham. The family moved to Richmond in North Yorkshire when he was nine years old. His dad worked as a painter and decorator on Lord Zetland's Estate which became Gerard's playground. The many farm labourers and gardeners and the aristocracy themselves were a great source of inspiration for his imagination and characters. Working as a decorator himself and then a potter way up in Reeth in the Dales, added to Gerard's rich imagination. His buried, but burning ambition to become an actor, was fulfilled later in life when he was offered a place at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. It was there that he met his, very understanding wife, Josephine. Performing in television, theatre and in many radio dramas, gave Gerard the opportunity to study numerous scripts and this led to an increased desire to write himself. Starting many years ago as a song writer, Gerard found it an easy step into writing short stories for children using rhyming couplets.