Neil Gaiman was born in England on November 10, 1960. He was able to read by the age of four; reading was something he always enjoyed. While in school, Gaiman won the school English prize and the school reading prize. Growing up, some of his favorite authors were C.S. Lewis, Edgar Allen Poe, and J.R.R. Tolkien. Gaiman's mom was a pharmacist, and his dad was a public relations officer for the Church of Scientology. However, Gaiman says that he is not a Scientologist. He married his first wife, Mary McGrath in 1985 and they had three kids: Michael, Holly, and Madeleine. He was legally remarried to Amanda Palmer on January 2, 2011.
Gaiman began his first career as a journalist, writing book reviews. After ending his journalism career in 1987, he began writing comics and novels. He has been known to write anything from novels to film scripts. He usually includes many different genres in just one of his works. Gaiman has won many awards for his writing such as the Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker. In 2009, he was awarded the Newbery Medal, and in 2010 he won the Carnegie Medal in Literature. A few of his major works are
American Gods, Anansi Boys, and his award winning comic series,
The Sandman.
