by Alan Paton

Born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, in 1903, Alan Stewart Paton was educated at Maritzburg College and the University of Natal, graduating with a degree in science. As a young man, he taught mathematics and chemistry for several years at Ixopo High School, an institution for white children, before joining the staff of Maritzburg College. After a bout with enteric fever in 1934, Paton decided to change careers. In 1935 he moved to Johannesburg to become principal of the Diepkloof Reformatory for African Boys (that is, black African boys). During his ten years there, Paton wrote several articles on crime, punishment, and penal reform and became deeply interested in race relations. In 1946 he took a leave of absence to study penal and correctional institutions in Europe, the United States, and Canada. His interest in race relations meanwhile led to his writing Cry, the...