Mandy Thijssen-Etpison was born and raised in the Netherlands. After living in the Philippines for several years, she moved to Palau in 1985 to work as the first PADI Instructor there. She published her popular first book "The Palau Island" in 1988. This is the third, revised edition of her second book, "Palau - Portrait of Paradise" which was first published in 1994. This edition also features some of her artwork on fish and Palauan scenes. Mandy lives on Palau with her husband and two sons, Tkel and Iked.