Sir James Matthew Barrie, one of the best loved of contemporary
novelists and dramatists, was born in 1860 in Kirriemuir, Scotland. His
formal education was completed at Edinburgh University. And although
his mature life has been spent largely in England, his stories reflect
the village and country life of his native and beloved Scotland.
J. M. Barrie, as he is usually called, is a person interesting but
difficult to know because of the reserve and shyness of his race. He
has a sweetness of nature and a joy in life born of sympathy and faith.
All these characteristics, together with his whimsical humor, are part
of his great charm. One cannot help loving the man as one reads about
him or reads his stories. The mental picture of him which one receives
is of a shy and meditative little man, inconspicuous of dress, getting
over the ground with strides almost as long as himself, and with a face
that one cannot meet without stopping to look after it.
Barrie's mother, Margaret Ogilvy, is really the heroine of practically
all of his stories and plays. From her, this man, shy of women, has
learned all he knows of her sex. This accounts in part for the goodness
and purity in his works. From his mother, too, he inherited his
whimsically gay vision of life. Thus, his plays and novels, so much
purer than those of many of his contemporaries, are never dull, for
they are lightened by his wit, his fanciful humor, and his love for
humanity.
The man's genial satire and kindly humanity may be distinguished in the
selection, "The Inconsiderate Waiter," which you will read in this
collection. The lovable Barrie, with his tenderness for child life, his
poetic fancy and whimsical invention, will be revealed to you more
truly when you have read his novels, _Sentimental Tommy_, _Tommy and
Grizel_, _The Little Minister_, _The Little White Bird_, and his play
_Peter Pan_.