Donald Emerson was born in Toronto on September 17, 1913 and moved to Milwaukee in his
teenage years. After earning his bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison,
he joined the U.S. Army during World War II. He received a bronze star for his service in
Army intelligence in France and Germany. Upon returning to the United States, Emerson
received his master's degree in English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1946 and
then his doctorate in philosophy in 1950. He taught at the Milwaukee State Teachers College
after graduating, and attained the rank of professor in 1960. He served as chair of the
English Department at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 1976 to 1979. Emerson
co-founded the Council for Wisconsin Writers in 1965 and served as the group's first
president.
Emerson published Span Across the River in 1967, followed
by Court Decision in 1968. Both teen novels received local
awards. Emerson also published many short stories in magazines such as Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and Manhunt. He published Closeout, an adult mystery
novel, in 1980 under the pseudonym Donald Conger. Emerson also wrote articles on authors
such as Henry James and Iris Murdoch for scholarly journals. Set in Milwaukee, one of
Emerson's final writing projects, Fire Fight, remains
unpublished.
