Brian Jacques (1939–2011)

Brian Jacques was best known for his vividly written Redwall series of children’s fantasy-adventure books, which follow the adventures in medieval England of brave mice who defend Redwall Abbey against cruel rats and other woodland marauders. Although Jacques began writing stories at an early age, he left school at age 15 and became a merchant seaman. He later held varied jobs. During the 1960s he was a member of a folk group, the Liverpool Fishermen, who toured local pubs and in 1971 produced an album. Throughout the next decade Jacques published poems, short stories, jokes, and songs in such anthologies as Get Yer Wack (1971) and Jakestown: My Liverpool (1979). He also wrote the play Brown Bitter, Wet Nellies, and Scouse, which was performed in the early 1980s at Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre, where he was the resident writer. Jacques began the Redwall books after reading to students at Liverpool’s Royal School for the Blind. He decided that the books available were too full of teenage angst and resolved to write what he felt was a more-appealing story. He wrote his first novel, Redwall, for the children at a school for the blind in Liverpool. After completing the first book, Jacques showed it to a former teacher, who in turn took it to a publisher, who requested a five-part series. The inaugural novel, Redwall, was published in 1986. The series eventually grew to include 22 books (with translations into some 30 languages), including Mossflower (1988), Martin the Warrior (1993), The Long Patrol (1997), Loamhedge (2003), Doomwyte (2008), and The Sable Quean (2010). The final installment, The Rogue Crew, was published posthumously in 2011. Jacques also hosted a weekly radio show in Liverpool called Jakestown for more than 20 years until it ended in 2006. Since 1986, his descriptive style of writing has captivated readers from ages 8 to 80. His books have won international awards and acclaim and have been made into a TV series.