Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction
Professional success and personal failure of James M. Barrie In researching the many odd and bizarre happenings of our unique culture, it is certain that truth is often stranger than fiction. The first paragraph of James Barrie's classic story "Peter Pan" introduced its central theme: "All children except one, grow up. They soon know that they will grow up"¦this is the beginning of the end." It sounds innocent enough, but a look at Barrie's life gives it a more sinister twist. Although J.M.Barrie wrote many plays and stories, it was said that "All of Barrie's life led up to the creation of Peter Pan," wrote James Merritt, one of his biographers.
A pivotal point came in 1866 when James, (the ninth in a Scottish family of ten), was six years old: His brother David, the pride of the family, died in a skating accident. Barrie's mother was devastated. To comfort her, James began mimicking David's speech and imitating his mannerisms. This bizarre charade went on for years and only became stranger when at the age of thirteen, the same age at which David died, James literally stopped growing, totaling only a height of five feet.
From childhood, James had a real passion for creating stories and plays. Soon after graduating from Edinburgh University, he moved to London to pursue his career as a writer. In 1880 his novels about his beloved mother, "wandering little girl" put him on the road to fame and he soon became one of England's most famous writers.
In 1899, Barrie befriended the Davies family and their nurse, he became a frequent caller at their home where he would bring along his St. Barnard- Porthos (who is later noted as the nurse""dog "Nana" in Peter Pan). Mr. Davies, was busy tending to his struggling career as a lawyer spent little time with his family. Barrie idolized the children George, John, and Peter. Only with them could he truly be himself. James met with them daily, creating and acting out stories, playing Indians, and pretending to be pirates by
A pivotal point came in 1866 when James, (the ninth in a Scottish family of ten), was six years old: His brother David, the pride of the family, died in a skating accident. Barrie's mother was devastated. To comfort her, James began mimicking David's speech and imitating his mannerisms. This bizarre charade went on for years and only became stranger when at the age of thirteen, the same age at which David died, James literally stopped growing, totaling only a height of five feet.
From childhood, James had a real passion for creating stories and plays. Soon after graduating from Edinburgh University, he moved to London to pursue his career as a writer. In 1880 his novels about his beloved mother, "wandering little girl" put him on the road to fame and he soon became one of England's most famous writers.
In 1899, Barrie befriended the Davies family and their nurse, he became a frequent caller at their home where he would bring along his St. Barnard- Porthos (who is later noted as the nurse""dog "Nana" in Peter Pan). Mr. Davies, was busy tending to his struggling career as a lawyer spent little time with his family. Barrie idolized the children George, John, and Peter. Only with them could he truly be himself. James met with them daily, creating and acting out stories, playing Indians, and pretending to be pirates by