Biography

Prolific English poet, novelist, essayist G (ilbert) K(eith) Chesterton was born in London on 29 May 1874. He was traditional, extolling the virtues of the 'little man', and the romantic, pre-modern past. He rejected the experimental in art as well as life, and distrusted the state and the modern world. His _Father Brown series of detective novels center around a humble but clever Anglican Catholic priest; Chesterton converted to Catholicism at the age of 48. He was considered somewhat eccentric, idiosyncratic, and was fiercely opinionated. George Bernard Shaw disliked his work, calling him "a freak of French nature", and various men and women of letters disdained the comparative gaudiness of his thought and his work, and his unfashionable political conservatism. Nonetheless he was popular, and beloved by many. He died on 14 June 1936, the same year his autobiography was published.

- IMDb mini biography by: Eileen Berdon <eberdon@aol.com>

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was asked to write an article on art criticism in 1900 and, within 30 years, became a prolific author, playwright, poet and essayist with more than 4,000 total newspaper essays. His works were highly influential on the ideas of men such as C.S. Lewis, Michael Collins and Mohandas K. Gandhi. Hugely influential in his own time, he often debated with other men of letters, such as H.G. Wells, Clarence Darrow and George Bernard Shaw. Despite their differences, his opponents often praised him, with Shaw once commenting that "the world would be worse off without Chesterton". Chesterton's influence today is mainly from his detective stories, in particular the "Father Brown" short stories that detailed the adventures of an amateur sleuth who happened to be a priest.

- IMDb mini biography by: The Other Rick (qv's & corrections by A. Nonymous)