Academic John Beston was born in Gundagai, New South Wales, in 1930. He was awarded a First Class Honours degree in English from the University of Sydney and a PhD on medieval literature from Harvard University, before commencing post-doctoral research into 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 (née 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 Coffs Harbour on 1 February 2018.