
His eldest child, Alan died of a brain aneurysm and he felt guilty for not being there for him and loving him like a father should. He became proud of Alan after he had died, when he had his book published- "On the Crest of a Wave"- even though the descriptions of Donald from Alan's childhood were not pleasant.
He lived alone for some years, not liked by many people because of his crabbiness. Then he married the dizzy Marilyn Chambers- a very unlikely couple. They had a son together called Byron and Donald helped Marilyn when she suffered from post-natal depression. She ran away from home a few times and Donald was very worried about her. Then Byron was diagnosed with cancer and Marilyn had to take him to America for proper treatment. Soon after we heard that Byron had died, and Marilyn never returned, much to Donald's disappointment and sadness.
He has been the headmaster for 10 years, until late 1999, when he felt he could no longer cope with all the pressure after Byron died. However, now that Judith has left he might re-take on the position. He wrote a book called "Letters to Byron" about the death of his son. This helped him to understand his emotions, and in some way connected him with his son. He had this published in late 2000. After Marilyn left, Judith was always there for him when he needed to talk. They both really liked each other and Donald hoped to get together with her but it didn't happen. June Reynolds (Harry's loudmouth mother and a fellow writer) came to stay with Donald and who knows what could happen between them? He came to love June's zest for life and admired her for her writing.
Donald has had a hard life, with 3 of his 4 children dying tragically. Even though he has a cold image, he is a real softie at heart. He loves literature and writing, and also teaches English and History. He also tends to be a bit unreasonable, is very opinionated and is always ready to yell at a student!