Peter Pan

Sir James Mathew Barrie was born on May 9, 1860, at Kirriemuir in Scotland, the ninth of ten children of a weaver. When Barrie was six, his older brother David died in a skating accident. Barrie then became his mother's chief comforter, while David remained in her memory a boy of thirteen who would never grow up. Barrie received his M.A. degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1882 and began working as a journalist. In 1885 he moved to London, and his writings were collected inAuld Licht Idlls(1888) andA Window in Thurns(1889), which, together with a sentimental novel,The Little Minister(1891), made him a best-selling author. In 1894 he married an actress, Mary Ansell, but the marriage was profoundly unhappy, produced no children, and was dissolved in 1910. However, a favorite Saint Bernard dog of Mary's later became the famous Nana ofPeter Pan. In 1897, with the adaptation ofThe Little Minister, Barrie became a successful playwright, writing the playsThe Admirable Crichton(1902),What Every Woman Knows(1903), andPeter Pan(1904), which was produced in 1904 and revived in London every Christmas season thereafter. While the figure of Peter Pan first appeared in Barrie's bookThe Little White Bird(1902), the story and the concept began in the tales Barrie told the sons of Mrs. Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, a woman Barrie loved. Barrie then published the story of Peter Pan in book form asPeter and Wendy(1911). The best of Barrie's later works isDear Brutus(1917), a haunting play that again brought the supernatural and fantasy to the London stage. Barrie died in 1937, bequeathing the copyright ofPeter Panto the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, a hospital for children.Barrie, J. M. is the author of 'Peter Pan', published 1985 under ISBN 9780553211788 and ISBN 0553211781.