Allan entered the education field over 35 years ago, teaching in public and separate school systems. Troubled by the lack of captivating reading material available to students, he met the problem head on by developing young adult fiction designed to interest the reader as well as introduce social, historical and geographical backgrounds. His books were met with great success, prompting the development of 'The Falcon Flies'©, a series involving the popular young archaeologist-adventurer, Hugh Falkins'.

At this time Allan began to develop his adult poetry, described as 'carefully crafted and emotionally authentic narrative(s)'.

After a number of years Allan left classroom teaching to enter the non-profit sector. He has worked with a number of volunteer organizations, most notably as a manager with Scouts Canada. There, he used his experiences to develop a series of consultation and training sessions, offering methods to build learning culture in organizations and to motivate and retain volunteers.

Recently, he has been teaching at community, college and