Academic John Beston was born in Gundagai, NSW, in 1930. He studied at the University of Sydney and Harvard University, before commencing post-doctoral research into the author Patrick White at the University of Queensland in 1970. He lived for much of his life in the United States where his wife, Rose Marie Beston (nee Beattie) also had an academic career. As well as work on Patrick White, Beston was a regular reviewer of Australian literature for the US press, and had an interest in literature in other languages, particularly French. He died in Coff's Harbour in 2018.