"When the first baby laughed for the first
time, the laugh broke into a thousand
pieces and they went skipping about and
that was the beginning of faeries." --
J.M. Barrie

Every child and every adult who is still a child at heart knows the story of Peter Pan, but fewer know that the creator of that timeless (and ageless) story was born in Kirriemuir, Scotland, and that the inspiration for many of his stories came from his Scottish home.

Barrie was educated in Kirriemuir and Forfar, and later at Edinburgh University, where he studied English and graduated in 1882. He worked for the Nottingham Journal and later the St. James’s Gazette of London before devoting himself completely to his literary career. His early works, published between 1888 and 1900, are characteristically Scottish in dialect, humor and sensitivity.

After 1900, Barrie devoted himself to children’s books; The Little White Bird, which introduced the Peter Pan character, was published in 1902. Although the Peter Pan books (there are three in all) represent Barrie’s best-known work, he was also a successful playwright.

The author described his work as a means “to play hide and seek with angles.” Barrie shared his interest in fairies with his friend, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who will be featured later on in this month’s series on Scottish writers.

Among the many awards Barrie received is the Order of Merit, which he earned in 1922. From 1930 to 1937, the author served as chancellor of Edinburgh University.

According to Kathy Li, “In later life, Barrie was struck by writers' cramp, and being ambidextrous, switched hands. He mentions in several places that what he wrote with his left hand had an altogether eerier quality than the more rational right. (He cites the play Mary Rose specifically).”

Barrie died in London in June of 1937, at the age of 77, and is buried in Kirriemuir.

Selected Works of J.M. Barrie:

• Auld Licht Idylls (1888), novel
  
• When a Man's Single (1888), literary autobiography
• Better Dead (1888), novel
• An Edinburgh Eleven: Pen Portraits of College Life (1889)
• A Window in Thrums (1889)
• My Lady Nicotine (1890), a pro-smoking piece
• The Little Minister (1891), novel
• Richard Savage (1891), play, produced with C. Marriot
• A Holiday in Bed (1892)
• Allahakbarries (1893)
• An Auld Licht Manse (1893)
• Jane Annie (1893), play, co-written with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• A Lady's Shoe (1893)
• A Tillyloss Scandal (1893)
• Two of Them (1893)
• The Sabbath Day (1895)
• Scotland's Lament (1895)
• Margaret Ogilvy (1896), novel, based on his mother
• Sentimental Tommy (1896), novel
• Life in a Country Manse (1899)
• Tommy and Grizel (1900), sequel to Sentimental Tommy
• The Wedding Guest (1900), play
• Quality Street (1901), play
• The Little White Bird (1902), children’s book
• The Admirable Crichton (1902), play
• Peter Pan (1904), play
• Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (1906), children’s book
• What Every Woman Knows (1908), play
• Peter and Wendy (1911), children’s book
• Quality Street (1913), play
• The Twelve-Pound Look (1914), play
• The Will (1914), play
• A Kiss for Cinderella (1916), play
• Dear Brutus (1917), play
• The Old Lady Shows Her Medals (1918), play
• Mary Rose (1924), play
• Shall We Join the Ladies? (1927), play
• Admiral Crighton (1930), play
• Farewell Miss Julie Logan (1932), novel