Lindon was born on October 10, 1961 in Guyana and moved to England at the age of one. He came to Canada in 1966 with his family and grew up in Winnipeg, attending schools in Transcona and graduating in 1979 from Murdoch McKay Collegiate. His early love of books, story-telling and reading led him to pursue English as his field of academic study. He started his journey at the University of Manitoba and obtained his Bachelor of Arts from York University in 1983, his Masters from the University of Denver in 1986 and ultimately his Ph.D from the University of Pennsylvania in 1990. At the time of his death, Lindon was a Professor of English at the University of California, Riverside, after spending years at the U of California, Irvine, including as Director of the African American Studies Program, his area of expertise. He was the author of a number of publications on literary criticism and culture. He was a man of independent thought and was fearless in his views. He told you what he thought, made you think, but also made you laugh. He loved his family and friends and would turn up for a visit surprising them and making the most of every moment.