Octavious Gillespie, born in Guatemala in 1979, migrated to the United States at a young age. He grew up in the Pacific Northwest and resides in Salem, Oregon, with his wife (Dr. Millner) and two children.

For the last 20 years he has been a collegiate track and field coach and is a lifelong artist. He is the national record holder in the decathlon and former record holder in the Javelin throw for Guatemala.

As an artist, Octavious mostly focuses on oil painting but likes to diversify his art into other mediums including acrylic and color pencil.”Out of the Shell” was his first literary outing and he attributes much of his love for children’s poetry to the work of Shel Silverstein. He has since written several additional books and is actively producing more.