Douglas Fairbairn


Douglas Behl Fairbairn was an American author who mainly wrote about South Florida. He wrote novels and a memoir.

Early life

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. After marrying in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1918, his parents relocated frequently, living 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 concentrated in English and was elected editor of the Harvard Lampoon despite having been expelled at the time. His Harvard roommate was the famous American actor Fred Gwynne. He returned to the Miami area where he would live out the rest of his life. He was married to wife Gay Fairbairn.

Publications

Novels

Non-Fiction

  • A Squirrel of One's Own
  • ''A Squirrel Forever''

Memoirs

  • Down and Out in Cambridge

Filmography

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 1976 feature film adapted from his 1973 novel of the same name. In November 2025, Shoot made headlines when the Apple TV television show The Hunt was pulled just weeks before its debut after allegations were made that the production plagiarized key elements from Fairbairn's novel. A French production starring Benoît Magimel and Mélanie Laurent, the plot of The Hunt bears significant similarities to Shoot, which was both translated into French as La Traque and saw the 1976 movie starring Cliff Robertson and Ernest Borgnine dubbed and released in France as well.