The Imaginary Realms of

Gilbert M. Stack

On this day (December 3) in 1894, Robert Louis Stevenson died. Stevenson is remembered best for such literary works as The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, Kidnapped, and Treasure Island. Images from his work pervade the modern culture. In addition to Jeckyll/Hyde he practically created the modern stereotype of the pirate with his Long John Silver (wooden leg, parrot, treasure map with a big X on it). H. Rider Haggard once said that he wrote King Solomon’s Mines on a bet with his brother to prove he could write a better book than Treasure Island, so Stevenson gets some credit there as well. The first of his books I read (when I was in the third or fourth grade, I think) was Kidnapped and that image of climbing the unfinished tower in the dark still lingers with me…