James Herriot was the pen name of James Alfred Wight, a country veterinarian who cared for farm animals and pets in the rolling hills of Yorkshire, England. He didn't start writing until age 50, publishing his first book at 51 under a pseudonym borrowed from a goalkeeper he'd watched on TV, since veterinary rules of the time frowned on vets advertising themselves. His warm, funny books, beginning with All Creatures Great and Small, became beloved around the world and were turned into popular television shows.