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William Golding was born in 1911
William Golding was born on September 19, 1911, in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England. He was raised in a 14th-century house next door to a graveyard. -
William attempted, unsuccessfully, to write a novel
A frustrated child, he found an outlet in bullying his peers. Later in life, William would describe his childhood self as a brat, even going so far as to say, “I enjoyed hurting people.” -
Went to college
After working in a settlement house and in small theatre companies, he became a schoolmaster at Bishop Wordsworth's School, Salisbury. -
Graduated college
There he taught English, Philosophy, Greek, and drama until joining the navy on the 18th December 1940, reporting for duty at HMS Raleigh. -
Became English teacher
There he taught English, Philosophy, Greek, and drama until joining the navy on the 18th December 1940, reporting for duty at HMS Raleigh. -
married
Golding was engaged to Molly Evans, a woman from Marlborough, who was well liked by both of his parents. However, he broke off the engagement and married Ann Brookfield, an analytical chemist, on 30 September 1939. -
Had a child named David
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Royal army (Navy)
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had another child (judith)
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Published book
Golding's experience teaching unruly young boys would later serve as inspiration for his novel Lord of the Flies. -
retired
He retired from teaching in 1962. After that, he lived in Wiltshire, listing his recreations as music, sailing, archaeology and classical Greek. -
Rites of Passage (winner of the 1980 Booker McConnell Prize)
On 21st October 1980, forty years ago today, William Golding was awarded the Booker Prize for Rites of Passage. Golding was 69 and until 2019, when the Booker Prize was shared between Bernardine Evaristo and Margaret Atwood (aged 79), he had been the oldest winner of the award. -
Nobel prize
The Nobel Prize in Literature 1983 was awarded to William Golding "for his novels which, with the perspicuity of realistic narrative art and the diversity and universality of myth, illuminate the human condition in the world of today." -
new film version of the Lord of the Flies was released
Box office. Lord of the Flies was released theatrically on March 16, 1990, in the United States by Columbia Pictures. Upon release, the film made $4.4 million in 888 theaters. -
died