On this day in 1973, Professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien passed away at the age of 81. In addition to being the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, he was a professor at Oxford University, where he held the honors of: Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon; Fellow of Pembroke College; Merton Professor of English Language and Literature; and Fellow of Merton College. He was a member of the Inklings with C. S. Lewis, meeting regularly to discuss literature.
Here are a couple of books about Tolkien if you are interested in learning more about his life and his writing.
