Born on March 8, 1859, Kenneth Grahame lived his childhood in the Highlands of Scotland and in England. His father was an attorney, his great-uncle a poet, and his cousin, Anthony Hope, wrote The Prisoner of Zenda. His branch of the family had to deal with his father's alcoholism and his mother's death from scarlet fever. The children were raised by their grandmother near the Thames, in Cookham Dene, which provides the backdrop for his most memorable work, Wind in the Willows. The family's misfortunes meant that Grahame wasn't able to attend University, but his uncle found him a position at the Bank of England. It was during this time that he began writing in earnest, contributing nonfiction articles to newspapers and fiction and poetry to magazines such as the St. James Gazette, the National Observer, and The Yellow Book. In 1893, several of his stories about orphaned children were published as Pagan Papers. Another collection followed in 1896, The Golden Age. Dream Days (1898) included his most famous short story, "The Reluctant Dragon," which several illustrators have made into picture books. He died on July 6, 1932 in Berkshire, England.