Author Background-Robert Louis Stevenson
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland on November 13, 1850. Stevenson was an only child. Attended the University of Edinburgh at the age of sixteen originally to become an engineer like his father and grandfather. Throughout his life, Stevenson was a frail man that frequently became sick. It was due to his frail stature that he decided he could not become an engineer as his father. He later decided to become a writer instead. Stevenson married an American artist Fanny Osbourne in May of 1880, Osbourne already had two kids from a previous marriage. Stevenson constantly was forced to move to a warmer climate due to his health problems, and finally ended up living on the Island of Samoa for the last five years of his life until he would die of a stroke on December 3, 1894. The islanders called him Tusifala, or teller of tales. He was inspired by the Samoan way of life to write the novel In the South Seas (1896).
Stevenson most famous novels are, Treasure Island (1883), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), and Kidnapped (1886). Stevenson was also known for writing poetry and nonfiction, but is best remembered for his fictitious novels. Many of Stevenson's novels were influenced by were he was living at the time. Many of Stevenson's novels were of an island setting, most likely because of his need for a warm climate to live in. Stevenson was greatly admired by other authors for his "unconscious skill". It is also believed that Stevenson wrote the first draft of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in three days, let his wife read it, then burned it and wrote a new one from scratch.