Almanac of Story Tellers: Lewis Carroll

  Every day brings a new story.  And each day contributes to the art of story telling -- in prose and poetry, in music, on the stage, on the screen, and, of course, in books. 

Today is the story of January 27th.

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      It is the 27th day of the year, leaving 338 days remaining in 2022.

    On this date in 1832, the British mathematician and writer who went by the name Lewis Carroll, was born in Duresbury, England.

    Carroll is known for his nonsense verse, but mostly for two children's books he wrote: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Both are considered classics of their genre. They are still read regularly today, and have been adapted for the stage, screen, and in animation.

    Carroll, born Charles Dodgson, is a figure whose life has been adapted since his writing days. He originally was seen as an uncle and university tutor who took children on picnics and day trips and told them stories, But sometime after his death, he began to be seen as something more sinister, as a man who took nude photos of young girls and may even have taken advantage of then. The fact that no evidence ever suggested  licentious or predatory behavior on his part toward the girls -- particularly Alice -- didn't stop the suggestions.

    Anyway, in addition to his abilities as a mathematician -- he wrote several scholarly books on the topic under his birth name -- and as a story teller, Carroll also was a skilled photographer and a passable artist.

    He first started telling the tales of Alice while on picnics with the children of a pastor, Henry Liddell. One of those children was a young girl named Alice, who was enchanted that the character shared her name. She asked Carroll to write down his stories, and he did, adding to them as he wrote.

    Eventually, he gave the bound writings, with artwork he drew himself, to Alice, who passed them around with her friends. They caught the attention of George MacDonald, one of the better known children's authors of the time. He encouraged Carroll to find a publisher.

    The poem, Jabberwocky, part of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, is one of Carroll's nonsense poems. He also wrote The Hunting of the Snark, considered the finest example of such work.

    Carroll died in 1898 in Guildford, England.