Donald S. Hair was born in Strathroy, Ontario, in 1937. After earning his doctorate in English literature from the University of Toronto, he taught for nearly forty years at the University of Western Ontario, from which he retired as a full professor and where he remains a professor emeritus in the Department of English and Writing Studies. He is the author of eight books, including Fresh Strange Music: Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Language (2015) and Souwesto Lives: John Hair and Alice Runnalls (2017), the latter now available in paperback from Rock's Mills Press. He is the recipient of the OCUFA Teaching Award, the Edward G. Pleva Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the Raymond Klibansky Prize for best academic book published in the humanities. He and his wife Arlene live in London, Ontario.