J.R.R. Tolkien

       On January 3, 1982 in Bloemfontein, South Africa was born one of the most reknown authors of all time. As a child, Tolkien was already inventing languages and living in his fantasy worlds. Tolkien lived quite a simple life. Unlike most authors of his time, he didn't go through many hardships. His father died when he was young, and his mother died a few years laters. After his parents passed, his and his brother's life were put into the hands of a Father Francis. However, they were sent to live with their aunt, then they lived at Mrs. Faulkner's boarding school. This is where he met Edith Bratt. He then attended college at Exeter College in Oxford. Though in no rush to join in on WW1, he eventually enlisted as a second lieutenant. He was eventually sent to the front line, but married Edith right before leaving. It was here that he contracted trench fever and was no longer in the fighting. He eventually began teaching at Oxford and was in a group with authors such as C.S. Lewis called the Inklings. In these meetings, they would sit around smoking their pipes, drinking, and talking about literature. Tolkien was a devout catholic which is one of the things he used a basis for his characters that build up all of the creatures and humanoids in "The Lord of the Rings". Tolkien wrote from his young years all the way up to his death. Even after death, his son still publishes Tolkien's finished and unfinished stories.   Tolkien died on September 2, 1973 after his wife died in 1971.