June Shenfield graduated from Swinburne University in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, specialising in the study of Literature. She was a poet, playwright and performance artist who lived and worked in Paris. In 1985, with her husband Ken Shepherd, she opened the first art gallery and bookshop in France that was devoted to Australian art and writing.

June was a mother who adored her children, a good wife, a loyal friend and a kind and generous person who was very caring of the elder generation in her family. She wrote about social issues; injustice to aboriginals, womens issues, and the war in Iraq ( 'everywhere', in Times New Roman). June battled her cancer for five and a half years, continuing to work, write and recite poetry and looking after her home and children until the day of her final hospital admission, six weeks before her death. She is missed.