Noel was born in San Francisco and moved to New Zealand with his parents as a child. He returned to the U.S. as a young adult and has remained so ever since, despite being educated at UC Berkeley and Harvard and having a 25-year career in the U.S. State Department. After enjoying the excitement of moving around the world as a Foreign Service Officer serving in Asia, Latin America and Africa, Noel retired. He then became a freelance international management consultant working mainly in public health, child survival and population programs. This second career took him back to Africa and Asia as well as adding Egypt, Russia and Kazakstan to his list.

Noel always considers himself to be an "internationlist". Certainly the cartoons emerging from this, his third career, are greatly influenced by his exposure to diverse cultures and the accompanying humor encountered while working with serious people on serious problems. Humor was always a good way to cope with some of the grim realities and a way to overcome notions of hopelessness. He believes that any attempt to improve people's well-being must include injecting a measure of humor into their daily lives. Everyone likes to laugh. Even the modified adage recognizes that "he who laughs last was slow to get the joke." So, whatever the timing and whatever the circumstance, the objective is to have people laugh with us, find humor in situations common to all of us, and make fun of some of life's absurdities.