British poet and author (1865-1936). His best known books included "The Jungle Book" and "Kim" (and both were written in Vermont, where he lived for a few years after spending most of his life in India and England). Most of his best-known stories were set in India.
Kipling spent much of his early life working as a journalist in India, which gave him an appreciation for how the common man saw life. He was considered a reactionary by some of his peers because he was a solid supporter of British imperialism. He displayed tolerance of many different religions, including Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism, but he was not himself a particularly religious man. He received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1907, but refused the Order of Merit. His only son enlisted underage and was killed in World War I--Kipling was thus bitterly opposed to the Kaiser.
For more on the works of Kipling ("Do you like Kipling?" "I don't know--I've never Kipled." Ho Ho, me so funny), check out some of these nodes:How the Leopard Got His Spots
Rudyard Kipling: Verses 1889-1896
A Song of Kabir
Research from GURPS Who's Who, compiled by Phil Masters, "Rudyard Kipling" by William H. Stoddard, pp. 112-113. | 
