“Sometimes I’ve believed as many as
six impossible things before breakfast.”
- Lewis Carroll.
Born
this day in 1832 in the English village of Daresbury, Charles
L. Dodgson, best known by his pseudonym Lewis Carroll, was the
eldest in a family of 11 children and grew adept at
entertaining both himself and his siblings with his storytelling ability.
Lewis
Carroll
As a babysitting aide, he made up stories for
his siblings and their friends, something he continued doing into his 20s and
30s, including for the children of good friend Henry George Liddell where Alice Liddell can be credited
with his pinnacle inspiration.
On a picnic outing with the Liddell family, he
told Alice and her sisters an amazing tale of a dream world. Alice was so enamored she insisted Carroll
write the story down so she could both relive it and share it with her friends.
The story then fell
into the hands of novelist Henry Kingsley, who urged Carroll to publish it. And
in 1865 the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was born. It would become the most popular children’s
book in England, then America, and then throughout the world before Carroll’s
death in 1898.
How
did a professional mathematician and photographer spin such a yarn? Perhaps two of his lasting quotes will
suffice: “Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then
stop.” And, “If you don’t know where you
are going, any road will get you there.”
Share A Writer’s Moment with friends
Writersmoment.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment