J. M. Barrie

a.k.a. James Matthew Barrie

Author Code: EJMB

Barrie was educated at the University of Edinburgh and worked for the Nottingham Journal before moving to London in 1885 where he became a free-lance writer. In 1888, he published his first successful work, Auld Licht Idylls, concerning life in Kirriemuir. He followed this in 1891 with The Little Minister which was a best-seller. The dramatisation of this work led Barrie to produce more and more for the stage. The death of his brother when Barrie was six is said to have influenced his famous Peter Pan (1904), the story of the boy who never grows up. His sympathy for his mother's grief over her loss of the child also influenced the biographical work, Margaret Ogilvy (1896), and is one of the best of his earlier works. An autobiographical work, Sentimental Tommy, was also published in 1896.

Barrie was awarded the Order of Merit in 1922, was elected to the Presidency of the Society of Authors in 1928, and was named Chancellor of Edinburgh University in 1930.