He was born in Winston-Salem, N.C. Eaton received his B.A. degree from the University of North Carolina in 1936, studied at Princeton, and received his M.A. degree from Harvard, where he worked with Robert Frost, who later recommended him to the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference.

Eaton served as Vice Consul in Brazil, 1942-1946, and as professor of creative writing at UNC, 1946-1952. In 1950, he married Isabel Patterson of Pittsburgh.

His papers are at the University of North Carolina.

Poetry

Stories

Non-Fiction