Douglas Fairbairn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
December 20, 1926
Douglas Fairbairn | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Douglas Behl December 20, 1926 |
| Died | October 2, 1997 (aged 70) |
| Occupation | Author |
| Alma mater | Harvard College |
Douglas Behl Fairbairn (December 20, 1926 – October 2, 1997)[1] was an American author who mainly wrote about South Florida. He wrote novels and a memoir.
Born Douglas Behl in Elmira, New York, to Jean Melissa "Missy" (née Fairbairn) and Martin E. Behl. His father was born in Westphalen, Germany, and came to America as a toddler. His mother was born in Huntsville, Ontario, Canada. After marrying in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1918, his parents relocated frequently, living in Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. His parents got a divorce when he was a child and he never saw his father again. (His father moved back to New York City and later died in Santa Barbara, California, in 1967.[2]) His mother later remarried, to Wesley Hibbard Bunce, and they moved to Coconut Grove, Florida in 1938. After going by Douglas Bunce for a time, although not officially, he legally changed his last name to his mother's maiden name in 1955.[3]
He attended but did not graduate from Harvard College, where he concentrated (majored) in English and was elected editor of the Harvard Lampoon despite having been expelled at the time. [4] His Harvard roommate was the famous American actor Fred Gwynne. He returned to the Miami area where he would live out the rest of his life. He was married to wife Gay Fairbairn.
Publications
Novels
- A Man's World (1956)
- The Joy Train (1957)
- Money, Marbles, and Chalk (1958)
- The Voice of Charlie Pont (1961, published by Random House in the compilation "Three Short Novels")
- A Gazelle on the Lawn (1964)[5]
- Shoot (1973)
- Street 8 (1976)
Non-Fiction
- A Squirrel of One's Own (1971)
- A Squirrel Forever (1975)
Memoirs
- Down and Out in Cambridge (1982)[6]
