Richard George Adams
Novelist
British author who is best known for his classic 1972 novel Watership Down. The work, modeled on Virgil's Aeneid, focuses on the epic journey of a group of anthropomorphised rabbits.
He studied modern history at Worcester College, Oxford and served in the British Army during World War II.
He served as a writer-in-residence at both Hollins University (Virginia) and at the University of Florida. His novel Watership Down was made into an animated film in 1978.
With his wife Elizabeth, he had two daughters. His children, Juliet and Rosamond, were the childhood recipients of a series of bedtime stories that became the basis for Watership Down.
He and Sharon Creech were both recipients of the prestigious Carnegie Medal.