Title: Robert Louis Stevenson - The Biography
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Description:  Bet you didn't know he lived in Samoa for the last five years of his life.
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Expiration_date: 9998-12-31 00:00:00
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 Robert was born in Edinburgh. His dad was a part time engineer, part time lighthouse builder. Most of the men in Roberts family were lighthouse builders.
In fact the Stevensons were the best lighthouse builders in Britian at the time.
When he was very young, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, so he spent most of his childhood in bed. He composed stories even before he could read or write.
He wrote his first story when he was sixteen.

 There were times as an adult, that he couldn't wear a jacket, for fear of bringing on a lung sickness. (Imagine! And in England no less!)
Soon he entered the Edinburgh University to study engineering, but due to his ill health, he soon returned home. He then decided to go into law. 
By this time, he began to write essays, and small travel descriptions, and newspaper articles. Not once did he think of writing books, until some time later...

 Robert traveled around a lot, trying to improve his health. He traveled to places such as the Scottish Highlands. However, he didn't much agree with boat travel.
He once wrote in a little book he always carried with him, that 'The sea does not agree with me.' I think this means sea sickness, which DOES NOT improve health at all.
Even in his early years, Robert loved to be read to. His favorite was Hamlet.
(FYI: Hamlet is not a pig. Hamlet was a fictional character made up by Shakespear - and if you don't know who HE is, you need some help.)
Finally, it occured to him - I want to be writer. I want to make other's imaginations soar, as Hamlet did for me. (This is a translation of what he wrote in his diary, as I can't understand it, and needed an adult to tell me what it meant.)

 His first real published work was AN INLAND VOYAGE, telling of his visit to France and Belgium. This novel was followed by TRAVELS WITH A DONKEY IN THE CERVENNES. He once wrote 'I travel for travels sake.'
In France, he met a woman by the name of Fanny Osbourne, a woman with two children, and a husband who hated her guts.
Fanny went to the United States to get a divorce, and Robert followed her. 
They married in California, in 1880.

 Now comes the legend we all (should) know about. 
Robert gained fame with Treasure Island, meant to be a gift for his wifes two children. The main character is Jim Hawkins, who lived with his mother in an inn. He encounters a seemly 'mad man' as Dr. Livesey says. Billy Bones dies after a great visit with former shipmates, and Jim, the docter, and a blind guy opens Billy's chest, to find a map, showing the legendary hiding place of Captain Flints treasure trove. Jim then, with some help from the docter, gets on a ship and goes to find the treasure, meeting a guy named Long John Silver. But this guy is a pirate, and soon, when they get to the island, the pirates take over the ship, and Jim barely escapes, then meets Ben Gunn, a marooned member of Flint's little gang. And I suppose you know the rest, they get the treasure, and live happily ever after.
This story, of course was a BIG hit.

 Soon after, he became even more famous with the novels KIDNAPPED, and DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE. This is one of my most favorite stories. Dr. Jekyll isn't what you'd call a 'mad scientist' But he is a scientist studying how a man can change into another. So he takes this formula he made, drinks it, and then the trouble starts. I was starting at the end for your convenience. The book starts out with Jekyll's friend (I can't really remember his name now) out walking, and sees a hunched over man running in the lamplight. The creature runs into a little girls, and knocks her down. The friend expects him to help the girl, but instead, the creature runs off. (You need to understand, you just don't do that.) But if I tell you anymore, I'll ruin the book. You'll really need to just read it.

 But soon his health got even worse, and the family decided to go across the sea, and they soon came to live in Samoa, where they lived happily.
The Samoan's loved him. They called him Teller of Tales. Robert translated this name to Chief White Information.
His last work was THE BOTTLE IMP, taking place in Hawaii.
He died of a brain sickness in Samoa, in 1893.