I Biography of James Matthew Barrie-the author
J. M. Barrie was born May 9, 1960 in Kirriemuir, Scotland. Margaret Oglivy raised him in the midst of 10 other children, the mother he adored.
When Barrie was six, his older brother David (the mother's favorite) died and Barrie spent the rest of his childhood trying to replace his brother for his mourning mother. This attempt to replace a forever-young David would take it's toll on the rest of Barrie's adult life and his writing. Barrie could be described as small and shy. As a man, he stood little more than five feet, was quiet and awkward around women.
Fortunately for Barrie, he was a success as a writer. He got his start as a writer for the Nottingham Journal after graduating from Edinburgh University. Before this time though, Barrie had already been captivated by the theater and after having short stories and several successful books published, Barrie finally wrote his first play--Ibsens's Ghost (1891).
Wendy Darling as portrayed in Disney's Peter Pan.
J. M. Barrie (as Hook) and Michael (as Peter Pan) ...
Peter Pan playing the PipesHe followed this with Walker, London, during the production of which he met his future wife--the actress--Mary Ansell.
Barrie wrote Peter Pan as a tribute to the sons of his friends Sylvia and Arthur Llewelyn Davies. It was distinctly different from the previous, more mature material that Barrie had written and would write. Peter Pan was a fantasy, but not any mere fairy tale. Like Peter Pan himself, Barrie was a boy who refused to grow up. Barrie took such elements of life as his awkwardness with, yet dependence opon women, his love of children, and his own longing for childhood and shaped them into one of the best-loved stories of all time.
Peter Pan was Barrie's greatest success. In 1912, he turned it into a book, called "Peter and Wendy". However, after writing Peter...