James Hilton (September 9, 1900 – December 20, 1954) was an Oscar-winning English novelist, and author of several best-sellers including Lost Horizon (which popularised the mythical Shangri-La) and Goodbye Mr. Chips.
Born in Leigh, James Hilton was the son of John Hilton, the headmaster of Chapel End School in Walthamstow. His father was one of the inspirations for the character of Mr. Chipping in Goodbye, Mr. Chips. (Hilton was born in Wilkinson...
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James Hilton (September 9, 1900 – December 20, 1954) was an Oscar-winning English novelist, and author of several best-sellers including Lost Horizon (which popularised the mythical Shangri-La) and Goodbye Mr. Chips.
Born in Leigh, James Hilton was the son of John Hilton, the headmaster of Chapel End School in Walthamstow. His father was one of the inspirations for the character of Mr. Chipping in Goodbye, Mr. Chips. (Hilton was born in Wilkinson Street, Leigh — there is a teacher in Goodbye, Mr. Chips called Mr Wilkinson.) The setting for Goodbye, Mr. Chips is believed to have been based on the Leys School, Cambridge, where James Hilton was a pupil. Chipping is also likely to have been based on W. H. Balgarnie, one of the masters of the school who was in charge of the Leys Fortnightly, where Hilton's first short stories and essays were published.
Hilton wrote his two most remembered books, Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr Chips while living in a rather ordinary semi-detached house on Oak...
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