Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl was born Llandaff, South Wales on September 13, 1916. When Roald was 4 years old his father died from pneumonia. In 1932, Dahl graduated from Repton. After graduation he went on an expedition to Newfoundland, then he took a job with the Shell Oil Company in Tanzania, Africa. He stayed there until 1939, then joined the Royal Air Force and trained to become a fighter pilot for WWII. When he was serving in the Mediterranean he crashed his plane leaving him with serious injuries to his skull, spine, and hip. He had to receive two spinal surgeries and a hip replacement. After his recovery he was transferred to Washington D.C. where he became an assistant air attache. While we was in Washington D.C. he met author, C. S. Forrester. Forrester convinced Dahl to start writing. He published his first short story in the Saturday Evening Post. He then continued writing for The New Yorker. Dahl then went on to write his first story for children, The Gremlins in 1942 for Walt Disney, because this story wasn't very successful he geared his stories back toward adult readers. In 1953 he produced the best-selling story collection Someone Like You in and Kiss kiss in 1959. Also in 1953 Dahl married famous actress Patricia Neil and had 5 children with her. He published popular book James and the Giant Peach in 1961, and in 1964 released Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was then later adapted for two films. Over his career Dahl wrote 19 children books. Roald Dahl passed away on November 23,1990 in Oxford from a blood disease called Myelodysplastic Syndrome.