Terry Lister is lives in Portsmouth with his wife. He joined the Royal Maritime Auxillary Service as a seaman at the age of 15, progressing from ordinary seaman to able seaman. During his time on the tugboats, Terry qualified as a cook and joined the sea going tugs, spending a lot of time abroad. Terry retired from the RMAS in 1991, and qualified as an art instructor in 2004 and is now focusing on his children's book writing and developing a new board game.