J. M. Barrie

Sir James Matthew Barrie, Bt., OM (May 9, 1860 - June 19, 1937), more commonly known as J. M. Barrie, was a Scottish novelist and dramatist. He is best known for creating the character Peter Pan, whom he based on his friends, the Llewelyn-Davies boys.

Related Topics:
OM - May 9 - 1860 - June 19 - 1937 - Scottish - Novelist - Dramatist - Peter Pan

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Barrie was born in Kirriemuir, Angus, the youngest of nine children, and was educated at Dumfries Academy and Edinburgh University. He became a journalist at Nottingham, then London, and became a novelist. His first novels were set in Kirriemuir, disguised as "Thrums" (his father was a weaver). He then wrote for the theatre, including Quality Street, What Every Woman Knows, and The Admirable Crichton.

Related Topics:
Kirriemuir - Angus - Dumfries - Edinburgh University - Nottingham - London - Novelist - Theatre - Quality Street - The Admirable Crichton

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His 'Thrums' novels were hugely successful when they were published, starting with Auld Licht Idylls (1888). Next came A Window in Thrums (1889) and The Little Minister (1891). His two 'Tommy' novels, Sentimental Tommy and Tommy and Grizel came in 1896 and 1902 and dealt with themes much more explicitly related to what would become Peter Pan. The first appearance of Pan came in The Little White Bird (1901)

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Barrie was a massive name in the literary scene, and counted Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson and Thomas Hardy amongst his friends and acquaintances.

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Although some people may find his friendship with children suspicious, there does not seem to be any evidence that anything inappropriate happened, and the youngest of the boys, Nico flatly denied that Barrie ever behaved inappropriately; some biographers suggest that he may have been asexual. To that extent he may have been fey; his work characteristically taking us beyond the temporal, sexual, material preoccupation of contemporary Western consciousness back into another earlier world reminiscent of the Gaelic 'Tír Na nÓg', the mythic land of perpetual youth. He was married to the actress Mary Ansell, but it was a sexless and childless marriage and ended in divorce.

Related Topics:
Asexual - Tír Na nÓg

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He was godfather to Peter Scott.

Related Topics:
Godfather - Peter Scott

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He died in 1937 and was buried at Kirriemuir, next to his parents, sister, and brother David, who had died in a skating accident just before his 14th birthday.

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In 1924, he specified that the copyright of Peter Pan should go to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

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The current status of the copyright is complex. See Peter Pan Copyright Status.

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