And then there’s J.R.R. Tolkien. He was born in southern Africa, but after the death of his father at age four he was raised by his mother in England. She died when he was eleven years old and Father Francis, an Oratory Priest took over guardianship of the two Tolkien brothers. A brilliant linguist, J.R.R. Tolkien eventually found a way to study at Oxford University. Following his service in France during World War I, during which many of his friends were killed, he became at professor at Oxford. He also took up writing and met regularly with a group of fellow professors, among them C.S. Lewis. The many volumes of stories Tolkien wrote during this time abound today, entertaining readers as they are sweep off into the story world of Middle Earth.