Douglas Fairbairn


Douglas Behl Fairbairn was an American author who mainly wrote about South Florida.
His novels include A Man's World, A Squirrel of One's Own, Shoot, A Squirrel Forever, Street 8 and his memoir, Down and Out in Cambridge.
His screen credits include the television episode "A Man's World" for Studio One in Hollywood, the episode "The Voice of Charlie Pont" on Alcoa Premiere, and a full-length feature film from his novel Shoot.
Born Douglas Behl in Elmira, New York, to Jean Melissa "Missy" 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. His parents moved around a lot, married in Cleveland, Ohio in 1918, they lived 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 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.
He attended but did not graduate from Harvard College, where he was editor of the Harvard Lampoon. He returned to the Miami area where he would live out the rest of his life.