Paul Quarrington was born July 22, 1953, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He attended the University of Toronto, from 1970 to 1972 and graduated from the Canadian Film Centre in Toronto. Besides writing novels, he also wrote for television, film and the stage. Quarrington has won numerous awards for his work including the Foundation for the Advancement of Canadian Letters, most promising new writer in 1986; the Periodical Distributors of Canada Authors Award; the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour in 1987 for King Leary; the Governor General's Literary Award for English Language Fiction in Canada in 1989 for Whale Music; and the Matt Cohen Prize for a distinguished lifetime contribution to… Canadian literature in 2009. He died of lung cancer on January 21, 2010 at the age of 56.