Don DuPay was born in Wenatchee, Washington where he spent most of his childhood, later moving to ruralMontana for a short time living on his parents farm. He settled in Portland, Oregon permanently in 1947 at theage of eleven. DuPay graduated from Grant High School in 1954 and later studied for 2 years at Lewis and ClarkCollege. He went on to spend 3 years active service duty in the US Navy performing top-secret radiosurveillance on the Baltic Sea, during the Cold War. He rose to the rank of Cryptographic Technician T-branch E-6. From there, DuPay joined the Portland Police Bureau in 1961. In 1967, at the age of 31 he rose to the rank of detective and was later promoted to homicide detective. DuPay worked for PPB until 1978 when he resigned for documented medical reasons. He became the director of security for the Benson Hotel forseveral years in the 1980s, and was instrumental in changing hotel safety policies that would ensure better safety for customers and manage fire code violations. Later DuPay volunteered as co-host of a cable access television program called Cannabis Common Sense, with host Paul Stanford. In 2017, DuPay graduated from Portland State University. He was honored in the commencement program for being "the oldest" graduate of that year. DuPay resides in Portland with his 4th wife, author, poet and editor, Theresa Griffin Kennedy. The Tainted Rose: Stories from a Portland Detective, is his third book.
