James Matthew Barrie was born in Kerriemuir in Scotland to a linen weaver family and was educated at Edinburgh University. He worked for a time as a journalist and then published several novels. He turned to writing for the theater and authored Quality Street and The Admirable Crichton before producing his most enduring work, Peter Pan, Or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. He was knighted in 1914 and died in 1937. (By John Osborne)