ROALD DAHL

Roald Dahl was weaned on good stories. Born in Wales in 1916, his Norwegian mother was a great storyteller who fascinated her children when stories that ranged from traditional to fantastical. Though he lost his father when he was only 3, Roald later read the extensive daily diaries that his father kept, many of the pages detailing his experiences in World War I.

While enjoying a happy home life, Dahl's school life was much darker. However, his public boarding school in Derbyshire was close to Cadbury's chocolate factory and the boys at school were frequent testers of their new flavors.

Dahl went on to join Shell Oil and work in Africa. While he was in Nairobi, he joined the Royal Air Force, becoming a pilot despite his height of 6'6". His adventures as a pilot would eventually lead to his career as a writer.

In 1942, C.S. Forester, the author of the Captain Hornblower series, asked him to share his experiences about being shot down over Libya. Dahl wrote about his experiences and Forester was so impressed with it, he had it published as written and sent the $900 check to Dahl.

Dahl continued to brush shoulders with fame as Walt Disney invited Dahl to Hollywood to write The Gremlins. It wasn't made into a movie, but Eleanor Roosevelt was so impressed with it that she invited him to the White House. After that, he was a frequent guest both there and at the presidential retreat.

Playwright Lillian Hellman introduced him to his first wife, Broadway and Hollywood actress, Patricia Neal. Together they had five children. He later married Felicity "Liccy" Crosland who was born on the same street as Dahl had been.

Dahl began his writing career with short stories for adults, stories that were frequently published in such magazines as The Saturday Evening Post, The New Yorker, Harper's and Atlantic Monthly.

He began writing children's stories after his daughters Olivia and Tessa were born. He'd tell them stories and then eventually write them up. It was how James and the Giant Peach came to be.

He received numerous awards for both his adult and children's fiction. He won an Edgar Award three times as well as a Whitbread Award, children's Book Award from the Federation of Children's Book Groups, a World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement, three Surrey School awards, a California Young Reader Medal, a Massachusetts Children's Award, New York Times Outstanding Books Award, and a Smarties Prize.

Dahl died in 1990 of a rare blood disease.

Bibliography

--B. Redman