Ballantyne, Robert Michael: - Robert Michael Ballantyne was a Scottish writer of young adult literature who produced more than a hundred novels between 24 April 1825 and 8 February 1894. He was a talented artist as well; several of his watercolors were displayed at the Royal Scottish Academy. Ballantyne was conceived in Edinburgh, where he was born. He moved to Canada at the age of 16, where he worked for the Hudson's Bay Company for five years. During that time, his yearning for his family and his home inspired him to begin sending letters to his mother. Ballantyne discovered the death of his father upon his return to Scotland in 1847. The next year, Hudson's Bay: or, Life in the Wilds of North America, was released as his debut book. He gave up his business in 1856 to concentrate on his writing career. His writing policy was to be as close to his own firsthand experience of the situations he depicted. Ballantyne spent his final years in Harrow, London, before relocating to Italy for his health. He may have had Ménière's illness, which was not yet recognized. He passed away in Rome on February 8, 1894, and was laid to rest in the city's Protestant Cemetery.