dr. scovil was born in 1923 in victoria, british columbia, canada and received his master's degree in physics from the university of british columbia, where he later briefly taught. he died may 11, 2010 in port townsend, washington, united states. he was predeceased by his wife, gwendolyn, and survived by his son, alistair (married to the writer adrianne harun) and two grandsons, peter angus scovil and duncan christopher henry scovil.