MAY 9

JAMES M. BARRIE IS BORN

Sir James M. Barrie moved from Scotland to London, England to become a writer. He frequently took walks in Kensington Gardens, and it was there in 1897, that he met five young brothers, the Llewelyn-Davies boys: George, Jack, Peter, Michael, and Nico. The family would go on to inspire the story of Peter Pan. Barrie became good friends with the Llewelyn-Davies family, and the boys called Barrie "Uncle Jim". By 1910, both of the Llewelyn-Davies parents had sadly died, so Barrie unofficially adopted the five brothers.

In 1913, King George made Barrie a baronet (an important title awarded by British Royalty), and in 1922, received the honor of Order of Merit from the King. Only 24 living people can hold the honor of Order of Merit at one time, so it's a big deal.

JM Barrie died in 1937 at the age of 77 years old. He left the copyrights to all of the Peter Pan related novels and plays (this includes any movie made about the Peter Pan characters) to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, which to this day provides an annual revenue for the hospital. One of my favorite Peter Pan movies is Hook, starring Robin Williams as a grown up Peter Pan.