J. R. R. Tolkien

January 3, 1892 - September 2, 1973

The English author, poet, philologist, and University professor, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, is best known for his works of high fantasy including The Hobbit, The Lord of The Rings, and The Silmarillion.

Tolkien was schooled by his mother as a young child and quickly developed interests in botany and languages. During World War I, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and was active in combat. In order to ease his wife's worries, he created a secret code that he used in his letters to let her know his whereabouts. Tolkien's love of language was prominent throughout his career, and during his first civilian job after the war, he worked on the history and etymology of words. Tolkien even developed his own languages, the most developed of which were Quenya and Sindarin.

Tolkein's first solo novel was The Hobbit which he originally wrote for his children. Due to its popularity, he was asked to write a sequel. Tolkien spent over ten years writing his most famous work, The Lord of the Rings. His writing was influenced by his views on politics and religion and his interest in British adventure stories and European mythology. In addition to his works of fiction, Tolkien is also known for his academic literary criticism such as Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics. After his death, his son ensured that many of his unpublished works were published.

Tolkien has received a number of honors including being named Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II, given the insignia of the Order of Buckingham Palace, and awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Oxford University. He was so popular during his lifetime that he had to remove his phone number from the public directory. It should be no surprise that he is considered by many to be "The Father of Modern Fantasy Literature".