Don Duren attended public schools in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is a graduate of Hot Springs High School. He served four years in the United States Air Force and is a graduate of Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas, Southwestern Seminary in Texas, and Northwestern State University in Louisiana. Duren retired as Minister of Activities from the Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas. He is the author of Boiling Out at the Springs: A History of Major League Baseball Spring Training in Hot Springs, Arkansas; Bathers Baseball: A History of Minor League Baseball at the Arkansas Spa; and Lon Warneke: The Arkansas Hummingbird. He has contributed articles to the Garland County Historical Society of which he is a member and to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Additionally, he is a member of the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR), the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, and the Heritage House Museum of Montgomery County (Arkansas). He is a descendent of Arkansas pioneer Granville Whittington.