Lewis Carroll (1832 - 1898) started life as Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. A preacher’s son, he began writing poetry as a child, which he published in homemade newspapers. Despite a stammer (he called it "a hesitation") which plagued him throughout his life, Lewis was a popular public speaker, as well as a gifted mathematician and photographer. Writing was his true calling, though, and he published at least a dozen literary works--including Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, of course--and another dozen mathematical works which brought him great fame and fortune. Lewis loved word play and logic; many of his works include fun, nonsensical, or fantasy elements.