September 13, 1916, was the day Harald and Sofie Dahl, two Norwegian immigrants living in Wales, had their first son, a boy they named Roald. Even before birth Roald was supposed to be endowed with great sense of beauty, courtesy of his father. Harald Dahl, a thriving ship broker in Cardiff, possessed a great aesthetic sense; wishing to instill this in his children, Harald encouraged his wife to go for long walks along the most beautiful trails in the Welsh countryside, hoping the magnificence of nature would seep through to the brain of th ....