Kenneth Louis Shepherd grew up in a Calvinistic society in which it was normal for people to be involved in a job of work. He was never unemployed at any time in his life. He worked as an apprentice hairdresser, as a bookstall assistant, farm labourer, clerical helper and in the catering trade. But most of his working life was spent as the manager of a West-London shoe shop. At no time was he involved in any profession which was connected with art or with writing. At the age of 70, he received via the OU a BA degree in the Humanities with a focus upon Art. He is the author of the book Streets Ahead, which deals with townscapes as seen in Art. This was the first book that he had had published.

It was published in 2018 when the author was aged 84. This book deals with people who are seen in artworks in their professional capacity. The author searched for a book on this specialised subject but found none. And so, he wrote one. The same applied to his previous publication, which was streets ahead of any others.