Instead of keeping up with my usual theme of writing intense arguments, I'd like to take a moment to celebrate an individual I never had the chance to meet, but have appreciated and loved since the beginning of my life. As a child, above all else, I was a reader. If it had words, I was willing to pore through it like it was the most fascinating thing I'd ever seen. This applied to shampoo bottles, nutrition labels, eye-catching newspaper articles (though I hardly enjoyed them), and of course, books. My earliest memories of reading on my own are either of Harry Potter, Enid Blyton's The Famous Five, and of course, the person who helped me recognize my love of writing, Roald Dahl.

Dahl and I share a birthday, one set about 84 years after the other, and to this day, I credit him as the primary individual in my life who inspired me to put my thoughts out on paper. He wrote some of the most marvelous stories I've ever had the privilege to read, from the well-known Charlie and The Chocolate Factory to his wickedly amusing The Witches. I used to believe that, like him, I was meant to be a writer. I imagined myself as some sort of genius-incarnate, blessed with his ability to build universes from ink; and while I now know that's nowhere near true of me, I still consider whatever skills I have as an author to be because of him and his contributions to my childhood.

I've read Matilda and have consequently tried her magic-eyes trick more times than I'd like to admit. I've imagined tasting Wonka's chocolate and have been wary of blue-tongued women with itchy wigs. I memorized the spells in Esio Trot and have fallen in love with the fantastic world of Mr. Fox. Even now, at twelve and eighteen, my sisters and I read The Witches together. I provide the funny voices and accents and they lie down next to me and listen, and just like that, we three are somewhere else.

I am incredibly grateful for this man's contributions to children's fiction. There are few authors as capable of touching lives and hearts and drawing smiles on people's faces the way Roald Dahl has been able to, even now, long after he has passed. No matter where I am in the world, his writing never fails to make me feel at home.

Thank you for everything you have done for me, and happy 101st birthday.