At age seven, Dahl began attending Llandaff Cathedral School where his favorite memories involved trips to the sweet shop with his friends (Dahl and Dahl). For the most part, however, his school memories were unhappy ones, because, during his boarding school years, he was often flogged (McElmeel 110). At nine years old Dahl began school at St. Peter's prep school in Weston-Super-Mare, where he suffered from homesickness. To remedy this, he began to write weekly letters to his mother, a tradition he maintained until her death 32 years later (Dahl and Dahl). When Dahl was 13 he began public school at Repton in Derbyshire where he excelled at sports such as heavyweight boxing and squash (Dahl and Dahl). He did not, however, excel at English and was often criticized by his English master. Dahl's unhappy school years had a great influence in his writing. His childhood and schooldays are the subject of his autobiography, Boy: Tales of Childhood (Dahl and Dahl).

After high school Dahl decided that he would not attend college, instead he began working for the Shell Oil Company in London as a salesman. At the age of 23 he enlisted with the Royal Air Force in Nairobi (Dahl and Dahl). He was stationed in Greece and did flying missions over Africa. When he flew to Libya his fighter jet crashed and Dahl was seriously injured (Encyclopedia Britannica 847). After his injury Dahl was put to work in the British Embassy in Washington D.C. This is where it all started. While working in Washington he came in contact with CS Forester who was writing for a newspaper at the time of the war. He had asked Roald to lunch to discuss his experiences within the war. Since Forester could not take notes and eat lunch at the same time, Dahl offered to make him a rough copy and give them to him the next day (McElmeel 110). When Forester received it he couldn't believe what a tremendous piece of work Dahl had done. Without making any changes to his work, it was published in The Saturday Evening Post and Dahl was paid $1,000. The Post accepted 11 other wartime stories by Dahl (McElmeel 110). This was the turning point not only in his career but also his life. He began writing extensively and published his first book, The Gremlins, in 1943. Walt Disney got a hold of this rare work and produced a very well liked movie from his book (Encyclopedia Britannica 847).

Dahl was married on July 2, 1945 to Patricia Neal, a Broadway and Hollywood actress. They lived on a Farmhouse in Great Missenda, England, where they had 5 children: Olivia, Tessa, Theo, Ophelia and Lucy (McElmeel 110). For the first fifteen years of his writing career he wrote several novels and short stories for adults, winning him the Edgar Award of Mystery Writers of America three times (Dahl and Dahl). His children are the reason that he began writing children's books; every night he would tell stories to his kids before they went to bed.

His first children's book was published in 1961, James and the Giant Peach (Dahl and Dahl). Dahl did most of his writings in a hut in their garden. This dingy old place is where Dahl sat in an armchair all day and wrote many of his books. Dahl was incapable of typing so he wrote out free hand all of his ideas and thoughts (Dahl and Dahl). The Dahl family encountered many tragedies in their lifetime. Roald had 8 major back operations as a result of his war injuries. His daughter Olivia died of measles at the age of 7. His son Theo was hit by a taxi cab in New York City while in his baby carriage and suffered from severe brain damage. Dahl's wife, Patricia, also suffered 3 strokes (McElmeel 111). On December of 1983 Dahl and Patricia divorced and he remarried a family friend Felicity, after they had been having an affair for quit some time. In that same year was he also won the Whitbread Award in Britain and in 1988 won the Children's Book Award (Dahl and Dahl). On November 23, 1990 Dahl died of leukemia at the age of 74. His paperbacks have sold over 17 million copies. He will always be remembered as a great writer and someone who helped people in need. After his death his wife started the Roald Dahl foundation to keep his spirit alive (McElmeel 114).

McElmeel, Sharron L. 100 Most Popular Children's Authors. Englewood, Co: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1999:109-114.

Dahl and Dahl. Roald Dahl Literary Estate. The Official Roald Dahl Homepage.

http://www.roalddahl.com. 12 Feb,2003.

Dahl, Roald. Encyclopedia Brittanica.Fifteenth Edition.Chicago:Encyclopedia Brittanica Inc, 1998 ed.847