Born: Portchester, UK

November 10th, 1960

Died: Not Yet

In his biography, curtesy of his own blog, (http://www.neilgaiman.com/p/About_Neil/Biography), Gaiman credits the libraries and librarians of his youth for fostering his life-long love of reading, for introducing him to the works of the authors he most admires: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, James Branch Cabell, Edgar Allan Poe, Michael Moorcock, Ursula K. LeGuin, Gene Wolfe, and G.K. Chesterton.

Neil Gaiman is a member of: British Fantasy Society, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, International Museum of Cartoon Art, Scienfiction Foundation, and the Society of Strip Illustrators. (Biography in Context- Neil Gaiman)

In an interview with CNN he said:

"I was always the weird one," he says without a trace of self-criticism, just amused analysis. "It never occurred to me that I was weird. The lovely thing about being the first child is that nobody has anything to measure against, so nobody knows they're weird."  (Gaiman, 2001)

He began his career as a freelance journalist in 1983 in British men's magazines until he publsihed Duran Duran. His popularity skyrocketted with the creation of The Sandman a comic book series aimed at adult audiences and earned him a cult following and numerous awards.

Throughou this life he has written nonfiction, science fiction & fantasy, graphic novels, for young adults and children's picture books. Neil Gaiman and his prolific works have changed the lives of millions.

In fact, Mr. Gaiman has made it a priority - even against the advise of his publishers - to make the audio version of The Graveyard Book available for free on his website - there is a link in the Media tab above.