His books are still everywhere and school librarians can’t seem to keep them on the shelf. Roald Dahl created a literary empire and will live on through many of his books including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda among others.

Roald Dahl was born in 1916. His Norwegian parents moved from Norway and made their home in Cardiff, Wales. In 1920, Roald Dahl’s older sister died from appendicitis and his father died about one month later at the age of fifty-seven from complications of pneumonia. His mother chose to stay in the United Kingdom because she wanted her children educated there.

Roald was sent to several boarding schools across England and was a success in athletics. His towering height of 6’6’’ made him stand out in a crowd along with his abilities. He was the team captain of several sports teams in high school and seemed to find popularity among his peers.

While attending Repton School in Derbyshire, Cadbury would send chocolates to the school for test runs on the students. It was during these testing sessions that Dahl’s third book for children found inspiration for the later development of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

In 1953, Dahl married Patricia Neal, the award winning actress. The couple had five children during their thirty-year marriage. After his divorce from Neal in 1983, Roald Dahl married Patricia’s best friend at the time. Roald Dahl and Felicity d’Abreu Crosland stayed married until Roald Dahl’s death.

Roald Dahl died in 1990 at the age of seventy-four. His literary achievements were remarkable and inclusive of short stories, children’s books, adult fiction, poetry, plays and film scripts. Additionally, his non-fiction books as well as his work in television, particularly with the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes, will be remembered.