Piers Anthony facts for kids

Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob (born August 6, 1934) is an American author. He writes exciting stories in the science fiction and fantasy styles. He uses the name Piers Anthony for his books. He is most famous for his long series of novels set in the magical land of Xanth.

Many of his books have been on The New York Times Best Seller list. He is proud that he has published a book starting with every letter of the alphabet. These books range from Anthonology to Zombie Lover.

Piers Anthony's Early Life

Piers Anthony's parents, Alfred and Norma Jacob, were Quaker pacifists. This means they believed in peace and did not support war. They were studying at Oxford University in England. In 1936, they paused their studies to help people during the Spanish Civil War. They set up a food kitchen for children in Barcelona, Spain.

Piers and his sister stayed in England with their grandparents and a nanny. In 1940, his family moved to the United States. In 1941, they settled in a simple community in Winhall, Vermont. Here, young Piers met the author Scott Nearing, who was a neighbor. His parents went back to their studies. His father became a professor who taught different languages.

Piers went to several schools. He graduated from Goddard College in Vermont in 1956. He has shared that he faced challenges in school. He felt like he was not noticed by others.

Marriage and Starting His Writing Career

Piers Anthony met Carol Marble when they were both in college. They got married in 1956, the same year he finished college. After that, he worked as a handyman. In 1957, he joined the United States Army. He did this because his wife was expecting a baby, and they needed health care and a steady income.

During his two years in the army, he became a U.S. citizen in 1958. He also worked as an editor and cartoonist for his army group's newspaper. After leaving the military, he taught for a short time at Admiral Farragut Academy in St. Petersburg, Florida. Then, he decided to try to become a full-time writer.

Anthony and his wife made a special agreement. If he could sell a piece of writing within one year, she would keep working to support him. If he couldn't sell anything, he would give up his dream of being a writer. He managed to get a short story published just in time. He often says that his wife made his writing career possible. He advises new writers to have another way to earn money when they are just starting out.

Piers Anthony's Writing Journey

Piers Anthony has sometimes changed publishers for his popular book series. He did this when he felt that editors were changing his work too much. He has also won legal cases against publishers regarding money.

He helps new writers by sharing information about publishers online. For this, he won an award in 2003. His website also won an award for helping writers.

His famous Xanth book series has been considered for movies. It also inspired a video game called Companions of Xanth and a board game called Xanth.

Anthony's novels usually end with a special "Author's Note" chapter. In these notes, he talks about his life and experiences. He often shares how these experiences relate to the book he just wrote. He also discusses letters from readers and real-world events that influenced his stories. Since about the year 2000, Anthony has written his books using a Linux computer system.

In 2011, his Xanth series was ranked among the top science fiction and fantasy books in a poll by NPR readers.

Piers Anthony in Other Media

Piers Anthony's books have also been featured in other ways. An episode of the radio show This American Life talked about how much some boys loved his novels. A writer named Logan Hill shared how he was obsessed with Anthony's books as a 12-year-old. Years later, he met someone named Andy who also loved the books. Andy explained that he used these fantasy novels to help him cope with difficult times at school and home. In 1987, when Andy was 15, he even tried to run away to Florida to live with Piers Anthony. The radio story included Anthony's thoughts on these events.

But What of Earth? Book Story

Early in Piers Anthony's career, there was a problem with his book But What of Earth?. An editor named Roger Elwood asked Anthony to write this novel. Anthony finished the book, and Elwood bought it. However, Elwood then said he wanted to make small changes. He hired another writer, Robert Coulson, to retype the book with these changes. Anthony thought Coulson was a friend and was okay with his help at first.

But Elwood told Coulson to be a full partner and make many changes. He promised Coulson half of all future earnings from the book. Anthony said the published book was very different from his original story. Characters and conversations were changed, and parts were added or removed. Anthony felt these changes made the book worse. The published book listed both Anthony and Coulson as authors.

Later, Anthony got the rights to his original book back. In 1989, he republished his first version of But What of Earth?. This new edition included notes from Anthony. These notes explained the story of how the book was changed and showed examples of what was different.

Piers Anthony's Personal Life

Piers Anthony and his first wife, Carol Ann Marble Jacob, had two daughters, Penelope "Penny" Carolyn and Cheryl. Penny had one child and sadly passed away in 2009 from health issues. Carol Ann passed away at home on October 3, 2019, after a long illness.

On April 22, 2020, Piers Anthony married MaryLee Boyance. He lived on his tree farm in Florida until March 2023. At that time, he sold his farm and moved to California.

Piers Anthony is a vegetarian. This means he does not eat meat.

Piers Anthony's Beliefs

Regarding his beliefs about religion, Piers Anthony wrote in 2004 that he is agnostic. This means he believes that whether God exists is not proven. He also said he is closer to the idea that God does not exist than that God does. In 2017, he stated he was even more sure that God and an afterlife do not exist.

See also

In Spanish: Piers Anthony para niños