Editing Neil Gaiman (section)

==Early life and education ==
Neil Richard Gaiman<ref name=LexMinMan20110114>Born as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to [[Amanda Palmer]]. {{cite web|website= [[GateHouse Media|Lexington Minuteman]]|date= 14 January 2011|title=Wedding: Palmer — Gaiman|url=http://www.wickedlocal.com/lexington/newsnow/x1799249805/Wedding-Palmer-Gaiman|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131012070003/http://www.wickedlocal.com/lexington/newsnow/x1799249805/Wedding-Palmer-Gaiman|archive-date=12 October 2013|url-status= live}}</ref> was born on 10 November 1960<ref>{{cite web|last=Miller|first=John Jackson|url=http://cbgxtra.com/knowledge-base/for-your-reference/comics-industry-birthdays|title=Comics Industry Birthdays|work=[[Comics Buyer's Guide]]|date=10 June 2005|publisher=[[Krause Publications]]|location=Stevens Point, Wisconsin|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218031356/http://cbgxtra.com/knowledge-base/for-your-reference/comics-industry-birthdays|archive-date=18 February 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> in [[Portchester]], Hampshire.<ref name=Goodyear/> Gaiman's family is of [[Polish-Jewish]] and other [[Ashkenazi]] origins.<ref name="princeinterview">{{cite book|last1=Wagner|first1=Hank|last2=Golden|first2=Christopher|author-link2=Christopher Golden|last3=Bissette|first3=Stephen R.|author-link3=Stephen R. Bissette|title=Prince of Stories: The Many Worlds of Neil Gaiman|year=2008|publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]]|location=New York City|isbn=978-0-312-38765-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/princeofstoriesm0000wagn/page/447 447–449]|chapter=The Interview|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/princeofstoriesm0000wagn/page/447}}</ref> His great-grandfather emigrated to England from [[Antwerp]] before 1914<ref>{{cite web|url= http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/01/journeys-end.html|title= Journeys End|first= Neil|last= Gaiman|date= 16 January 2009|publisher= Neil Gaiman's Journal|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120311025117/http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/01/journeys-end.html|archive-date= 11 March 2012|url-status= dead|access-date= 16 January 2009|quote= My paternal great-grandfather came to the UK before 1914; and he would have come from Antwerp.}}</ref> and his grandfather settled in [[Portsmouth]] and established a chain of grocery stores, changing the family name from Chaiman to Gaiman.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Andrew|last=Wearring|title=Changing, Out-of-Work, Dead, and Reborn Gods in the Fiction of Neil Gaiman|journal=Literature & Aesthetics|volume=19|issue=2|date=December 2009|page=236}}</ref> His father, [[David Gaiman|David Bernard Gaiman]], worked in the same chain of stores;<ref name="argus">{{cite news|last = Lancaster|first = James|title = Everyone has the potential to be great| pages = 10–11|newspaper = [[The Argus (Brighton)|The Argus]]|date = 11 October 2005|quote= David Gaiman quote: "It's not me you should be interviewing. It's my son. Neil Gaiman. He's in the ''New York Times'' Bestsellers list. Fantasy. He's flavour of the month, very famous}}</ref> his mother, Sheila Gaiman (née Goldman), was a pharmacist. Neil has two younger sisters, Claire and Lizzy.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008_12_01_archive.html|title= Trees|first= Neil|last= Gaiman|date= 20 December 2008|publisher= Neil Gaiman's Journal|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130929185556/http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008_12_01_archive.html|archive-date= 29 September 2013|url-status= dead|access-date= 26 July 2011}}</ref>

The Gaimans moved in 1965 to the [[West Sussex]] town of [[East Grinstead]], where his parents studied [[Dianetics]] at the [[Saint Hill Manor|Scientology centre]] in the town; one of Gaiman's sisters works for the [[Church of Scientology]] in Los Angeles. His other sister, Lizzy Calcioli, has said, "Most of our social activities were involved with Scientology or our Jewish family. It would get very confusing when people would ask my religion as a kid. I'd say, 'I'm a Jewish Scientologist.{{' "}} Gaiman says that he is not a Scientologist, and that like Judaism, Scientology is his family's religion.<ref name=Goodyear>{{Cite magazine |url= https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/01/25/100125fa_fact_goodyear|title= Kid Goth Neil Gaiman's fantasies|magazine= The New Yorker|first= Dana|last= Goodyear|date= 25 January 2010|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130427005709/http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/01/25/100125fa_fact_goodyear|archive-date= 27 April 2013|url-status= live}}</ref> About his personal views, Gaiman has stated, "I think we can say that God exists in the DC Universe. I would not stand up and beat the drum for the existence of God in this universe. I don't know, I think there's probably a 50/50 chance. It doesn't really matter to me."<ref>{{cite journal|last = Whitaker|first = Steve|author-link = Steve Whitaker|title = Neil Gaiman interview|journal = [[Fantasy Advertiser|FA]]|issue = 109|pages = 24–29|date = January 1989}}</ref>

Gaiman was able to read at the age of four. He said, "I was a reader. I loved reading. Reading things gave me pleasure. I was very good at most subjects in school, not because I had any particular aptitude in them, but because normally on the first day of school, they'd hand out schoolbooks, and I'd read them—which would mean that I'd know what was coming up because I'd read it."<ref>{{cite book|editor-last= Abbey|editor-first= Cherie D. |title= Biography Today General Series|year= 2010|page= [https://archive.org/details/biographytodayge0000unse_h7i3/page/66 66]|publisher= Omnigraphics Inc.|isbn= 978-0-7808-1058-7|url= https://archive.org/details/biographytodayge0000unse_h7i3/page/66}}</ref> When he was about 10 years old, he read his way through the works of [[Dennis Wheatley]]; ''The Ka of Gifford Hillary'' and ''The Haunting of Toby Jugg'' made a special impact on him.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bloomsburyreader.wordpress.com/2013/10/10/before-there-was-ian-fleming-there-was-dennis-wheatley/ |title=Before there was Ian Fleming, there was Dennis Wheatley |publisher=Bloomsburyreader.wordpress.com |date=10 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303173023/http://bloomsburyreader.wordpress.com/2013/10/10/before-there-was-ian-fleming-there-was-dennis-wheatley/ |archive-date=3 March 2014 |url-status=dead |access-date=12 June 2015 }}</ref>

Another work that made a particular impression was [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', which he got from his school library. Although they only had the first two of the novel's three volumes, Gaiman consistently checked them out and read them. He later won the school English prize and the school reading prize, enabling him to finally acquire the third volume.<ref name="Abbey"/> For his seventh birthday, Gaiman received [[C. S. Lewis]]'s ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]''. He later recalled that "I admired his use of parenthetical statements to the reader, where he would just talk to you ... I'd think, 'Oh, my gosh, that is so cool! I want to do that! When I become an author, I want to be able to do things in parentheses.' I liked the power of putting things in brackets."<ref name="Abbey"/> ''Narnia'' also introduced him to literary awards, specifically the [[Carnegie Medal (literary award)|Carnegie Medal]], won by the concluding volume in 1956. When Gaiman won the 2010 Medal himself, he said "it had to be the most important literary award there ever was"<ref name=bbc>
{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment_and_arts/10404624.stm|title= Neil Gaiman wins children's book prize|date= 25 June 2010|access-date= 25 June 2010|work=BBC News|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130911115608/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10404624|archive-date= 11 September 2013|url-status= live}}</ref> and "if you can make yourself aged seven happy, you're really doing well – it's like writing a letter to yourself aged seven."<ref name=flood>
 {{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jun/24/neil-gaiman-carnegie-graveyard-book|title=Neil Gaiman wins Carnegie Medal|newspaper= [[The Guardian]]|date= 24 June 2010|access-date= 26 June 2010|first=Alison|last=Flood|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131026001809/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jun/24/neil-gaiman-carnegie-graveyard-book|archive-date=26 October 2013 |url-status= live}}</ref> [[Lewis Carroll]]'s ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'' was another childhood favourite, and "a favourite forever. Alice was default reading to the point where I knew it by heart." He also enjoyed [[Batman]] comics.<ref name="Abbey"/>
[[File:Ardingly College, Sussex.jpg|thumb|right|Gaiman attended [[Ardingly College]] in [[Ardingly]], West Sussex]]

Gaiman was educated at several [[Church of England]] schools, including Fonthill School in East Grinstead,<ref name="egnet" /> [[Ardingly College]] (1970–1974), and [[Whitgift School]] in [[Croydon]] (1974–1977).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.exclusivebooks.com/features/authors/ngaiman.php|title=Neil Gaiman|publisher=Exclusive Books|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204103401/http://www.exclusivebooks.com/features/authors/ngaiman.php|archive-date=4 December 2008|access-date=2 February 2012}}</ref> His father's position as a public relations official of the [[Church of Scientology]] was the cause of the seven-year-old Gaiman being forced to withdraw from Fonthill School and return to the school which he had previously attended.<ref name=Goodyear /><ref>{{cite news|title=Head Bars Son of Cult Man|work=The Times|date=13 August 1968|page=2|url=http://cosmedia.freewinds.be/media/articles/tim130868.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029211637/http://cosmedia.freewinds.be/media/articles/tim130868.html|archive-date=29 October 2013|url-status=dead|quote=A headmaster has refused the son of a scientologist entry to a preparatory school until, he says, the cult "clears its name". The boy, Neil Gaiman, aged 7, (...) Mr. David Gaiman, the father, aged 35, a former South Coast businessman, has become in recent weeks a prominent spokesman in Britain for scientology, which has its headquarters at East Grinstead.|access-date=7 May 2011}}</ref> He lived in East Grinstead for many years, from 1965 to 1980 and again from 1984 to 1987.<ref name="egnet">{{cite web|url= http://www.egnet.co.uk/halloffame/neilgaiman.htm|title= East Grinstead Hall of Fame – Neil Gaiman|date= n.d.|publisher= East Grinstead Community Web Site|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130818123747/http://www.egnet.co.uk/halloffame/neilgaiman.htm|archive-date= 18 August 2013|url-status= dead|df= dmy-all}}</ref>

In the 1970s, he spent three years as an [[auditor (Scientology)|auditor]] for the Church of Scientology, an unusually high-ranking position given his age.<ref name="Vulture" /> He also sang in a [[punk rock]] band Ex Execs, formerly called Chaos.<ref>{{cite news |title=Punk is growing up, says singer Neil |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/east-grinstead-observer-punk-is-growing/152476974/ |newspaper=East Grinstead Observer |location=East Grinstead, West Sussex, England |date=April 26, 1978 |page=10 |access-date=}}</ref>

He met his first wife, Mary McGrath, while she was studying Scientology and living in a house in East Grinstead that was owned by his father. The couple were married in 1985 after having their first child.<ref name=Goodyear />