David Day

David Day (b. 14 October 1947 in Victoria, British Columbia) is a Canadian author of over forty books: poetry, natural history, ecology, mythology, fantasy, and children's literature. Internationally, he is best known for his literary criticism on J. R. R. Tolkien and his works.

Biography
After finishing high school in Victoria, British Columbia, Day worked as a logger for five years on Vancouver Island before graduating from the University of Victoria. Subsequently he has travelled widely, most frequently to Greece and Britain. Day has published six books of poems for adults and ten illustrated children's books of fiction and poetry. His non-fiction books on natural history include The Doomsday Book of Animals (1981), Noah's Choice: True Stories of Extinction and Survival (1990), and most recently Nevermore: A Book of Hours - Meditations on Extinction (2012). His Doomsday Book became the basis for the 100 part animated-short TV series "Lost Animals of the 20th Century" in 1995/1996. His books on environmental activism include The Whale War (1987) and Eco Wars: A Layman's Guide to the Ecology Movement (1989). Day's best-selling books on the life and work of Tolkien, are: The Tolkien Bestiary (1978), The Tolkien Companion (1993), Tolkien's Ring (1994), The Hobbit Companion (2000), Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopedia (1992) and The World of Tolkien (2003). Day's Tolkien's Ring was illustrated by academy award-winning artist Alan Lee, as was Castles (1984), The Animals Within (1984), Gothic (1986) and Quest For King Arthur (1996).