Joseph Walker began his professional writing career in 1980 as a staff writer for the Deseret News in Salt Lake City, eventually becoming the newspaper's television and live theater critic. He left professional journalism for 20 years to work in the world of public relations, and is now back at the Deseret News as the newspaper’s faith and religion reporter. Since 1990 he has written a weekly newspaper column called ValueSpeak, which has appeared in more than 200 newspapers nationally. A number of his columns have been published in five different editions of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series. His published books include two column collections – "How Can You Mend a Broken Spleen?" and "Look What Love Has Done!" – as well as the Ben Franklin Award-winning novella, "Christmas on Mill Street." Joseph and his wife, Anita, have five children and seven grandchildren. They reside in American Fork, Utah.