ERNEST NIHAL BERTRAND COREA was born in 1933 to Bertram Corea and Renee Wijewardene. He was a journalist by profession. His father was a lawyer, and the son of Dr. J. A. E. Corea of Chilaw. He was known as Nihal to his family, and ‘Ginger’ to his readers.

In his early life, he was appointed as a Principal of a private school in Matara. However, he decided to pursue a career in journalism instead. He began his career as a journalist for the Times of Ceylon Limited, but then moved to the Daily Mirror, where he worked as a reporter and columnist. He was distinguished by a unique sense of humour, wit and banter, which amply reflected in his newspaper articles, making them very entertaining to read.

He married Ranee Corea, the daughter of Stanley Corea and Ida Perera. Stanley was the son of Gate Mudaliyar J. E. Corea of Chilaw, and Terentia Ameresekera. Ranee compiled ‘Morning Spice by Ginger’, which was a collection of some of Nihal’s best pieces of work, written during his time at The Island and the Times of Ceylon. He passed away in 2001.