Brian Jacques

Published: May 21th, 2013
By A. Riegel

Brian Jacques was born in England. At the age of ten, on his very first day school, he was given an assignment to write a story about animals. His teacher could not, and would not believe that a ten year old could write so well. When he refused to falsely say that he had copied the story, he was caned as a liar. It was then that he realized he had a talent for writing.

His other occupations included running a weekly radio show, longshoreman, long-haul trucker, merchant mariner, railway fireman, boxer, bus driver, policeman, folksinger, poet, playwright, and postmaster.

One day, he volunteered to read to the students at the Royal Institute for the Blind in Liverpool. Redwall began when Jacques, displeased by the books available, decided to write his own. He wrote what he thought was “a proper story,” with brave warriors, dangerous quests, clever riddles, and splendid feasts. His audience led him to write with extraordinary detail, so they could picture the story in their imaginations.

His books became known to the world when his childhood English teacher, after reading his story, showed it to a publisher without Jacques’ knowledge. Soon, in 1986, the first book was available. The books have been published in more than 20 countries and were the basis of an animated series, broadcast on PBS in 2001. He has written a total of 22 Redwall books, The Ribbajack, the Castaways of the Flying Dutchman series, The Tale of Urso Brunov, and A Redwall Winters Tale, to name a few.

He died on the fifth of February 2011, at the age of 71.