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William Golding was born on September 19, 1911, in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England.
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Mother - Mildred, was an active suffragette who fought for women’s right to vote. Father - Alex, worked as a schoolmaster.
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William received his early education at the school his father ran, called Marlborough Grammar School.
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When William was just 12 years old, he attempted to write a novel which was unsuccessful.
A frustrated child, he found an outlet in bullying his peers. -
Golding started teaching English and philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth’s School in Salisbury.
Golding’s experience teaching unruly young boys was later serve as inspiration for his novel Lord of the Flies. -
He fought battleships at the sinking of the Bismarck and fended off submarines and planes.
Lieutenant Golding was even placed in command of a rocket launching craft. -
After 21 rejections, Golding published his first and most acclaimed novel, The Lord of the Flies.
This novel told the gripping story of a group of adolescent boys stranded on a deserted island after a plane wreck. -
At the age of 72, Golding was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize for Literature.
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He was knighted by England’s Queen Elizabeth II.
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Golding died of a heart attack in Perranarworthal, Cornwall.
After his death, his completed manuscript for The Double Tongue was published posthumously.