John Punshon was born in London in 1935. He attended Brasenose College, Oxford, where he became a convinced Friend. He held various jobs following graduation, including as a teacher, dramatist, lawyer and politician, before beginning to teach in Woodbrooke’s Quaker Studies program. After teaching at Woodbrooke, he moved to Richmond, Indiana where he taught at the Earlham School of Religion for ten years. After his retirement in the year 2000, he returned to England where he continued studying, writing and addressing audiences about the role of evangelicalism in the Religious Society of Friends. His retirement also gave him time to write about personal matters, including his church community and his family. John Punshon is the author of many books on Quaker themes, including Encounter with Silence and Portrait in Grey.