Donald Heiney (MacDonald Harris was a pseudonym) was born September 7th 1921 and died July 24th 1993. He wrote 17 novels, a non fiction book on sailing, and a large number of scholarly books on Comparative Literature. In 1982 he received the Award in Literature of the American Academy and Institute for Arts and Sciences for the sum of his work, and in 1985 he received a Special Achievement Award from PEN Los Angeles Center. His interests included sailing, arctic exploration and music.