Born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Eustace Palmer was educated at the Prince of Wales School and in the United Kingdom, where he obtained an MA and Ph.D. at the University of Edinburgh in English Language and Literature. Returning to Sierra Leone, he taught in the English Department of Fourah Bay College, the University of Sierra Leone, eventually becoming Professor and Chair of English, Dean of the Arts Faculty, and Dean of Graduate Studies. He emigrated to the United States in 1992 and is currently Professor of English and Coordinator of Africana Studies at Georgia College and State University. As well as being past President of the African Literature Association, he has written five books of criticism on English and African literatures. Apart from "A Pillar of the Community", Eustace Palmer is the author of three other published novels: "A Hanging Is Announced", "Canfira's Travels", and "A Tale of Three Women".