Born in St. John’s in 1928, Paul O’Neill graduated from the National Academy of Theatre Arts in New York in 1948 and was a professional actor in the US and England until 1954, when he became a CBC producer, retiring in 1986. He was the founding president of the Newfoundland Writers’ Guild and has been a volunteer with over fifty organizations during the last half century. His awards include the Order of Canada, the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador, the ACTRA Award of Excellence, and an honorary doctor of laws degree from Memorial University. His prose and poetry have been published internationally.