Gibbs, Robert J.: - Robert John Gibbs (poet, novelist, short story writer, professor, editor, and critic) was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, on 3 February 1930. During his childhood, his family moved frequently throughout Saint John, whose environs and characters often served as grist for his writing. After graduating from Saint John High School in 1947, he attended the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in Fredericton, and began to establish himself as a Maritime writer when his poetry started appearing in The Fiddlehead magazine in 1949. He taught for more than 25 years at UNB and was the director of the university's creative writing graduate program, retiring as Professor Emeritus in 1989. He served many years as editor and poetry editor of The Fiddlehead and has published 14 books of poetry and fiction. I've Always Felt Sorry for Decimals was his first book of fiction.