The Journalist

The son of a globetrotting international aid worker, Newman, who was born in England, grew up on St. Lucia in the Caribbean - where The Clearing is set - then in the Kingdoms of Lesotho and Swaziland in Southern Africa, then Canada, then England again, then Australia, and then - Well, you get the picture. His education was similarly global; primary school beneath swaying palms in the Caribbean, secondary school in Africa at an international boarding school (witnessing apartheid throttle a nation across the border in South Africa), and then undergrad and grad school in Canada and Australia respectively. There were starts and stops on the career track, too. He played semi professional football in Africa, and had trials at a number of clubs in London - all of whom chose to callously snuff out his boyhood dreams. (It turns out the ability to actually control a football is quite important to those who manage these teams.) To put himself through school, Newman spent time as a sweaty mover (be nice to those guys), a plant pot cleaner (less so to them), and a beer brewer. Eventually, after taking a keen interest in journalism and heading to Australia to complete his graduate degree, Newman found a way to avoid doing any actual real work by writing copy for corporations. Later still, that became a career in corporate communications. And that's where he finds himself today: in Toronto, Canada, plying his trade for a Fortune 500 company.