Don Hunter

Don Hunter grew up in the county of Cumberland in north-west England. He came from a family of coal miners. Conscripted for National Service into the Royal Army Medical Corps at 17, he volunteered for airborne duty and passed the notorious "P Course," considered one of the most demanding (fewer than half passed it) special forces selection courses in the world, and gained his parachutist's "wings". Following the army he qualified as a teacher and taught two years in West Bromwich before emigrating to British Columbia along with his wife June, whom he had met when she came to his school as a student-teacher. One of his teaching years was in Fort Nelson at Mile 300 on the Alaska Highway, where one day in February the temperature reached minus 54 degrees. His dramatized story of that year became the CBC movie and five-hour mini-series, 9B. Don taught for eight years in B.C. before switching careers to join The Vancouver Province daily newspaper where he was reporter, editor, feature writer and finally senior columnist when he retired. He has written for dozens of magazines. He and his wife June live in the village of Fort Langley, B.C. in the Fraser Valley,about 25 miles east from Vancouver. They have two daughters, both teachers.