This episode contains material that some listeners may not find suitable.

Discretion is advised. Hello. Hello and welcome to Disney Story Origins, episode 10 A, the Black Cauldron Part 1. I'm going to Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, The Lord. Lloyd Alexander was born in Philadelphia in

1924 and grew up in Drexel Hill a Western suburb. His father was a stockbroker and his family was much affected by the Great Depression.

His parents read only newspapers that bought books, quote, at the Salvation Army, and only to fill up empty shelves, unquote.

Lloyd was a reader though.

Shakespeare, Dickens, Mark Twain, and so many others were, quote,

my dearest friends and greatest teachers.

I loved all the world's mythologies.

King Arthur was one of my heroes.

By 15, he was determined to be a writer.

His parents found him a determined to be a writer.

His parents found him a practical job as a bank messenger, which inspired a satire that

would become his first book published 15 years later called and let the credit go.

He graduated at age 16 in 1940 from Upper Darby High School

where he was inducted into the school's Wall of Fame in 1995. His parents

placed him at Haverford College just down the road from home, although he left after one term.

Years later he observed,

My parents never read a book.

I never in all my life saw them sit down and read a book. I never in all my life saw them sit down and read a book. So it was always a mystery to them.

Where do these books come from and who actually writes them? And our son wants to go into a business like that?

He ignored their warnings and quote,

lived to regret not listening, acknowledging that he hadn't realized how hard a writing career

...