J. R. R. Tolkien
He served as the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon and Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford, from 1925 to 1945 and Merton Professor of English Language and Literature and Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, from 1945 to 1959. He was at one time a close friend of C. S. Lewis—they were both members of the informal literary discussion group known as the Inklings. Tolkien was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 March 1972.
Reception of J. R. R. Tolkien
Bootleg paperbacks published by Ace Books eventually found their way into colleges in the US in the 1960s. In response, a revised, authorized edition was published by Ballantine Books. The "hippie" following latched onto the book, giving its own spin to the work's interpretation, such as the Dark Lord Sauron representing the United States military draft during the Vietnam War, to the chagrin of the author who stated that "Many American fans enjoy the books in a way which I do not". 
Many fantasy series written in the period were created by fans of "The Lord of the Rings", such as the "Shannara" books by Terry Brooks.
There were active Tolkien enthusiasts within science fiction fandom from the mid-1950s. The first organized Tolkien fan group was "The Fellowship of the Ring", founded by fans including Ted Johnstone and Bruce Pelz at Pittcon, the 18th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) in 1960. Articles on "The Lord of the Rings" had appeared regularly since 1962 in the science fiction fanzine "Niekas", edited by Ed Meskys.