An adventurer himself, Don Gayton's varied life experience has influenced his writing. Growing up in the US West Coast, he attends a multi-racial highschool in Seattle. Graduating, he hitchhikes around Europe and then returns to the US to attend college. Bitten again by the adventure bug, he joins the Peace Corps, and works with peasant farmers in rural Colombia. Returning, he works on cattle ranches in eastern Washington. Motivated by his opposition to the Vietnam War, Gayton and his family move to Canada, where he works with Indigenous farmers in rural Saskatchewan. He is now settled in a small town in British Columbia's Okanagan, where he writes and consults on ecological matters. Gayton's extensive readings in history, ecology and fiction have deeply influenced his writing.