George Thaniel, author of Sefaris and Friends, was a lyric poet and literary critic in Greek and English. His most significant book of poems was The Nails (1968; 1981 second edition), and his most important books of literary criticism were The Lepidopterist of Suffering, Nikos Kachtitsis (1981) and Homage to Byzantium: The Life and Work of Nikos Gabriel Pentzikis (1983). He was a member of the Classical Association of Canada, the American Philological Association, and the Modern Greek Studies Association of America.