-
William Golding was born September 19th, 1911 in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England. He was born to his mother, Mildred, which was an active suffrage who fought for Women's right to vote. His father, Alex, was a schoolmaster. -
William Golding at the age of 12 attempted, unsuccessfully, to write a novel. Angered at his age he took it out in bullying his peers. His older self would describe his younger self as a brat.
-
A year before his graduation from Oxford University studying English, he published his first book. It was a book of poems titled 'Poems'. It was largely overlooked by Critics.
-
He finally decided to follow in his fathers footsteps when he took a position teaching English and Philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury. -
William Golding left teaching to be in the Royal Navy for World War 2. He spent the next 6 years on a boat. This is where he found his love of sailing and the sea. He worked hard fending off submarines and planes and had fought battleships. He was even placed in command of a rocket launching craft. Through all of this he saw all of the evil man is capable of and that contributed to Lord of the Flies.
-
Once the war ended William went back to teaching and writing.
-
In 1954 after 21 rejections, William Golding published his first and most acclaimed novel 'Lord of the Flies'. Since is publication it has been named a classic, worthy of in depth analysis and discussions in classrooms around the world. -
A year after Golding retired from teaching, Peter Brook made a film adaption of Lord of the Flies.
-
At his age of 73 he was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize for Literature
-
In 1988 he was knighted by England's Queen Elizabeth 2. -
In 1990 a new film version came out of the book Lord of the Flies and it brought attention to the newer generations.
-
His last years were spent with his wife until William died of a heart attack in Perranarworthal, Cornwall. After he died they published his completed manuscript, 'The Double Tongue'.