J.M. Barrie

James Barrie was born into a working-class religious family, the ninth of ten siblings. When James was 6 years old, his 13-year-old brother David died in a skating accident. James spent the rest of his childhood trying to cheer up his shattered mother – by writing stories, performing plays, and even wearing David’s old clothes. After a bookish adolescence, James Barrie attended the University of Edinburgh and wrote for various Scottish newspapers and magazines. He wrote several novels and plays, but he didn’t find literary fame until the publication of the Peter Pan series (the 1904 play and the 1911 novel). He married the actress Mary Ansell in 1893, but the marriage was unhappy and childless, and they eventually divorced. He died of pneumonia at age 77.