Alan Lindsey McLeod was born in Sydney and received his Leaving Certificate from Sydney Boys High School in 1945. He then completed a Bachelor of Arts (1950), a Diploma of Education (1951) and a Master of Arts (1952) at the University of Sydney, where he edited the magazines Vesperis and Descant, and where he met R. G. Howarth (q.v.), who he corresponded with for many years. He completed a Bachelor of Education at the University of Melbourne in 1954, and his PhD at Pennsylvania State University in 1956. He taught at a number of schools throughout New South Wales between 1951 and 1957, as well as becoming Assistant Associate Professor at the State University of New York (1957-1962), Professor, Chairman and Dean at Lock Haven University (1962-1966) and Emeritus Professor and Dean of Arts and Sciences at Rider University (1966-2001)
As well as those works listed here, Alan Lindsey McLeod has written and edited numerous works on aspects of Australian culture, including Evening Studies in the University of Sydney, 1884-1954 : A Historical Sketch (1955) and Australia Speaks : An Anthology of Speeches (1969). His many works on American and Commonwealth writers, culture, religion and politics include A Rhetorical Study of Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Speeches to the United States Congress, 1945-55 (1957), The Word into the World : A Bicentennial Record of Ministry (1977) and The Literature of the Indian Diaspora : Essays in Criticism (2000). His particular interest in the culture of South Africa has resulted in numerous publications, including Literature in Southern Africa : Studies in Theme and Form (1970), Representative South African Speeches : The Rhetoric of Race and Religion (1980) and African Literature in English : Development and Identity (1981). He also edited the English translation from Russian of Claude McKay's 1925 book Trial by Lynching : Stories About Negro Life in North America (1977). In 1961 Alan Lindsey McLeod became a citizen of the United States of America.
