William Golding (1911 – 1993)

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During World War II he served in the Royal Navy and was involved in the sinking of Germany's mightiest battleship, the Bismarck. He participated in the invasion of Normandy on D-Day and at war's end went back to teaching and writing.

Golding's often allegorical fiction makes broad use of allusions to classical literature, mythology, and Christian symbolism. Although no distinct thread unites his novels and his technique varies, Golding deals principally with evil and emerges with what has been characterized as a kind of dark optimism. Golding's first novel, Fire Down Below (1989).

He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1988.

William Golding died in Perranarworthal on June 19, 1993 and was interred in the Churchyard cemetery in Bowerchalke, Wiltshire, England.