John Griffin was educated at Hammond primary school (where his teachers included the poet Flexmore Hudson and the natural history expert Hans Mincham) and at Sacred Heart College and the University of Adelaide.
He began writing in the late 1960s, and has had several hundred poems published in newspapers, journals and anthologies, and a couple of dozen short stories. In addition he has written fourteen plays for radio, which have been broadcast by the ABC. His first play, 'One Tango with Juan Perón' won the Ian Reed Prize for the best play by a writer new to radio.
John spent his working life in teaching (English) and administrative roles in secondary schools.
In his later years, Griffin suffered from Lewy Body Dementia. He died in 2012.
Not to be confused with the English author of educational children's books, John Griffin (also b. 1935).
Griffin's name is incorrectly listed as Griffen by White.
