Editing M. A. R. Barker (section)

==Early life==
Born in [[Spokane, Washington]], descended from ancestors who had originally settled in America in 1626, Barker's childhood was spent around Washington and [[Idaho]].<ref name="MARbackground2">{{cite web |last=Barker |first=M.A.R. |date=April 7, 2005 |title=Family Background note by M.A.R. Barker |url=http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/tekumel/message/18608 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130106024936/http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/tekumel/message/18608 |archive-date=January 6, 2013 |access-date=October 13, 2009}}</ref> As a youth he had an interest in "fairy stories, history and literature" which would be further influenced by such films as ''[[The Thief of Bagdad (1940 film)|The Thief of Bagdad]]''; all of this helped to turn his casual "wargames" with toy soldiers more towards fantasy. From this, his fictional lands of Tsolyanu and others, in what was later to become [[Tékumel]], emerged and were embellished further in middle and high school years during which time he commenced construction of armies of hand-carved figures to represent his creations. Also at an early age, Barker's interest in languages was piqued by neighboring children of [[Basque Americans|Basque]] origin who were able to exclude others from their secret conversations in their native tongue.<ref name="TSR">{{cite journal | last = Barker | first = M.A.R. | author-link = M.A.R. Barker | title = Tsolyani Names Without Tears | journal =[[Strategic Review]] | issue = 4 | pages = 7–9 | publisher = [[TSR, Inc.|TSR]] | date =Winter 1975 | url = http://www.tekumel.com/downloads/StrategicReviewVol1No4.pdf | access-date =October 13, 2009 }}</ref><ref name="Drag4Kask">{{cite journal | last = Kask | first = Tim | author-link = Tim Kask | title = Dragon Rumbles (Editorial) | journal =[[Dragon (magazine)|The Dragon]] | issue = 4 | page = 3 | publisher = [[TSR, Inc.|TSR]] | date = December 1976 | url = http://www.tekumel.com/downloads/Dragon04.pdf}}</ref>