O. B. Emerson (1921-1990) was a professor of English at the University of Alabama from 1946 to 1986. He earned a BA in 1943 from Lambuth College, an MA in 1946, and a PhD in 1962 from Vanderbilt University. He taught at the Webb School in Bell Buckle, TN, and his research interests included Southern literature, African American literature, and the works of William Faulkner. In 1984, he published Faulkner's Early Reputation in America. He retired from the University of Alabama in 1986.

William C. Faulkner (1897-1962) was a Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, poet, and screenwriter. Born and raised in Mississippi, Faulkner was best known for creating the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, which was the setting of many of his novels. As a young man, he spent time in New Orleans where he met and befriended Sherwood Anderson, and in later life traveled for the US State Department to Japan. He was also Writer-in-Residence at the University of Virginia.