John S. Alabaster, born in Swansea in 1927 of mixed European heritage, had a fulfilling career as an environmental scientist (B.Sc., D.Sc., CB., FRSB.) during which the discipline of writing clear, concise and accurate scientific papers and books left him with a love of language and an interest in continuing writing – firstly, biographies of family members of the Elizabethan and Victorian periods, and latterly, several books about Elizabeth Poston, this as a result of his involvement with the Friends of the Forster Country and his life-long participation in amateur music-making, in particular with the Stevenage Music Society of which she was the President.