Stevenson, Robert Louis

Stevenson, Robert Louis (1850-94), author, b. Edinburgh, Scotland.

Robert Louis Stevenson's father and grand-father were engineers but his health was never good and he was not strong enough to be an engineer himself.

Instead he studied law but soon gave that up to write books.

In 1881, he wrote an adventure story for his stepson, Lloyd. At first it was called The Sea Cook but in 1883 it appeared as a book under the title Treasure Island, and it made Stevenson famous.

Treasure Island is one of the most popular children's stories ever written. The book has never been out of print since it was first published. It has been made into a number of movies and the sea-cook in the story, Long John Silver, is one of the most famous characters ever created by an author.

Stevenson's other adventure stories include Kidnapped (1886), The Black Arrow (1888) and Catriona (1893).

He also wrote a book of poems for children, A Child's Garden of Verses (1885).

His horror/thriller novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has since been made into many movies and is so engrained in modern culture that the phrase Jekyll and Hyde has become part of the English language, often to describe anyone who behaves unexpectedly violent or strangely out of character.

In 1888, Stevenson went to live on the Pacific island of Samoa with his wife and stepson. He is buried there on the top of Mount Vaea.