Little John experienced lots of change in his life from a young age. Having moved from South Africa to a big city in England, he longed to be surrounded by nature. After the death of both of his parents, John found comfort in telling stories and building imaginary worlds with his friends. And he continued to tell stories for the rest of his life, creating epic tales of hobbits, dwarves, elves and wizards as J. R. R. Tolkien.