Paton, PAY tuhn, Alan (1903-1988), was a South African author, social critic, and educator who wrote about the tragic consequences of rigid racial segregation. He became best known for his novel Cry, the Beloved Country (1948). The book tells of a struggle for human dignity amid racial conflicts in South Africa's gold mines, shantytowns, and law courts. Too Late the Phalarope (1953) is a novel about a sexual encounter between a white man and a black woman, then forbidden by South African law. Tales from a Troubled Land (1961) is a collection of short stories.