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 May 9th
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It is the 129th day of the year, leaving 236 days remaining in 2022.
On this date in 1860, the Scottish writer J.M. Barrie was born.
Peter Pan has become part of the English vernacular, an iconic character, a descriptive phrase commonly understood.
An editor on Brittanica.com said Barrie "retained a strong childlike quality in his adult personality." His relationship with Peter Davies, a child of the family he befriended and whom he wrote Peter Pan for and about, has been questioned since Barrie's death.
But Peter and his four brothers denied any improprieties on Barrie's part, and one, Nicholas, said Barrie was "an innocent" when it came to adult matters. They knew him as "Uncle Jim." Their friendships continued into adulthood.
Barrie wrote a number of plays and stories before he met the Davies family, and the works were moderately received. Again, Brittanica.com said his early writings were marked by "a quaint Scottish dialect, whimsical humor, and comic clowning."
He would entertain the five sons with stories. In one instance, he created a book of photographs of the boys dressed and playing as pirates, The Boy Castaways of Black Lake Island. He made two copies; one was lost.
Barrie first entertained the Davies' two eldest boys about Peter Pan, saying it was about their then-infant sibling, Peter, whom he claimed "really could fly." The stories were collected in a book published in 1905, The Little White Bird.
Peter Pan was first written as a play, and premiered in December 1904 at the Duke of York's Theatre in London. It was later published as a novel.
Barrie died in London in 1937.
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