John Lazarus grew up in Montreal, graduated from the National Theatre School's Acting program in 1969, and then worked in Vancouver as an actor, advertising copywriter, TV and radio broadcaster, critic, screenwriter, playwright and teacher. He taught Playwriting and Solo Show Techniques for 10 years at Vancouver's Studio 58, and in 2000 moved to Kingston, where he taught over 2,500 drama students at Queen's University, until retiring in 2021. John's own plays, produced across Canada and around the world, include Babel Rap, Dreaming and Duelling, Village of Idiots, The Late Blumer, Homework & Curtains, Genuine Fakes, The Nightingale, Medea's Disgust, Rough Magic, Trouble on Dibble Street, The Grandkid, and his series of plays for children, published under the title Not So Dumb. He lives in Kingston with his wife, Lin, and they have children and grandchildren in Toronto and Vancouver.