Piers Anthony
| Piers Anthony | |
|---|---|
| Born | Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob 6 August 1934 Oxford, England, UK |
| Pen name | Piers Anthony |
| Occupation | Novelist, short story writer |
| Nationality | English American |
| Education |
Goddard College Admiral Farragut Academy |
| Period | 1956–present |
| Genre | Science fiction, Fantasy |
| Spouse | Carol Marble |
| Children | Penelope Carolyn Jacob Cheryl Jacob |
| Website | |
| www |
|
Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob (born 6 August 1934 in Oxford, England) is an English American author in the science fiction and fantasy genres, publishing under the name Piers Anthony. He is most famous for his long-running novel series set in the fictional realm of Xanth.
Many of his books have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list. He has stated that one of his greatest achievements has been to publish a book for every letter of the alphabet, from Anthonology to Zombie Lover.
Anthony's parents, Alfred B. and Norma Jacob, were Quaker pacifists studying at Oxford University who interrupted their studies in 1936 to undertake relief work on behalf of the Quakers during the Spanish Civil War, establishing a food kitchen for children in Barcelona. Piers and his sister were left in England in the care of their maternal grandparents and a nanny. Alfred Jacob, although a British citizen, had been born in America near Philadelphia, and in 1940, after being forced out of Spain and with the situation in Britain deteriorating, the family sailed to the United States. In 1941 the family settled in a rustic "back to the land" utopian community near Winhall, Vermont, where young Piers made the acquaintance of radical author Scott Nearing, a neighbor. Both parents resumed their academic studies, and Alfred Jacob eventually became a professor of Romance languages, teaching at a number of colleges in the Philadelphia area.
Young Piers was moved around to a number of schools, eventually enrolling in Goddard College in Vermont where he graduated in 1956. On This American Life on July 27, 2012, Anthony revealed that his parents had divorced, he was bullied, and he had poor grades in school. Anthony referred to his high school as "a very fancy private school", and refuses to donate money to the school, because as a student, he recalls being part of "the lower crust", and that no one paid attention to or cared about him. He said, "I didn't like being a member of the under class, of the peons like that". He became a naturalized U.S. citizen while serving in the United States Army in 1958. After completing a two-year stint in military service, he briefly taught school at Admiral Farragut Academy in St. Petersburg, Florida before becoming a full-time writer.
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