Education
Born in Aberdeen, Scotland, Buchan studied at the University of Toronto.
Born in Aberdeen, Scotland, Buchan studied at the University of Toronto.
From 1968 until 2011, Buchan taught in Richmond Hill, Ontario at Bayview Secondary School. He retired from professional teaching prior to the start of 2011-2012 school year. In Bayview Secondary School, he displays great knowledge of other European languages, as well as Vietnamese.
He has adopted seven children from Vietnam.
Buchan"s three novels were written to interest his students in reading. Buchan uses aspects of the fantastic such as fairyfolk, nature spirits and hidden magic to attract children to explore much more serious and mundane real world issues.
Despite the fact that his stories are usually written with a young audience in mind, his plots and themes are usually surrounding serious social issues, such as treatment of indigenous populations, interracial friendships, and environmentalism.
Buchan was also a member of Bayview"s first yearbook committee.