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William Golding was born on September 19, 1911, in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England. He was raised in a 14th-century house next door to a graveyard.
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William published his first work, a book of poetry aptly entitled Poems. The collection was largely overlooked by critics.
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Golding took a position teaching English and philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth’s School in Salisbury. Teaching the boys inspired him to write his novel Lord of the Flies.
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Golding temporarily abandoned the profession to join the Royal Navy and fight in World War II. Golding spent the better part of the next six years on a boat.
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After World War II had ended, Golding went back to teaching and writing. Golding’s participation in the war would prove to be fruitful material for his fiction.
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After 21 rejections, he finally publishes his most famous novel, Lord of the Flies. The novel told the story of a group of young boys stranded on a deserted island after a plane wreck.
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William retired from teaching. This same year Peter Brook made a film adaptation of the critically acclaimed novel.
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He was awarded the Nobel Piece Prize for Literature. Shortly after he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth ll in 1988
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A new film version of the Lord of the Flies was released. It brought the book to the attention of a new generation of readers.
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William dies of a heart attack in Perranarworthal, Cornwall. After his death, his completed manuscript for The Double Tongue was published posthumously.