My research on William Faulkner helped me discover some important information about his life.  He was born on September 25, 1897 in New Albany Mississippi.  He had four brothers.  Although he was clearly brilliant, he did not have interest in a formal education, and he dropped out of high school.  This did not stop him from attending The University of Mississippi, where his work started to get published in magazines and college newspapers.  He attempted to get into the US Air force, but was rejected because he was too short at five feet six inches.  Later, he was accepted into the Canadian Royal Air force as a cadet.  In the next years of his life he traveled frequently and published many works, including As I Lay Dying, The Sound and the Fury, Sanctuary, Absalom, Absalom!, and others.  Among his awards and achievements are two Pulitzer Prizes, the Nobel Prize for Literature (1949), and the National Institute's Gold Medal for Fiction (1962).