John V. Clarke was born on September 10, 1950, in Seattle, Washington. He grew up on his parents' lakeside property on Mercer Island with his four brothers and one sister. He graduated with a teaching degree from Western Washington State University in Bellingham, where he was impacted by the charismatic Christian movement of the day. In 1970, John married his teenage sweetheart, Lyza, and moved to White Rock, British Columbia, in Canada, in order to work with youth. There they started an outreach coffeehouse on the White Rock beach and eventually led their following of young people into a local nondenominational congregation.At that time, John's vocation took a turn from teaching to pastoring. For the next thirty-five years, John and Lyza raised their family of four children and served as ministers at White Rock Christian Fellowship. After following this vocational calling for such an extended period, their life took another radical turn when they became coastal skippers operating a charter business called Pacific Encounters on a large classic sailboat. This late-in-life transition is the subject of this, his latest book, inspired by the theme of daring to go outside our comfort zones and embracing the adventures life still has for us.John and Lyza still live in White Rock by the sea, spending winters in their beachside condo and summers on their sailboat, Porpoise, running sailing charters with people from all over the globe. Their four children and seven grandchildren also join them regularly to cruise the pristine wilderness of the Inside Passage.