Lawrence Miles was born in 1972.  His earliest memory is of being terrified by a giraffe at London Zoo (he'd never really seen anything that big before), and it's entirely possible that his insistence on writing vast, oversized epics is a kind of subconscious revenge against an animal which must have died years ago anyway.  This might sound fatuous, but he genuinely means it.  So far he's written seven novels and at least one good short story, and he's currently busy with the Faction Paradox comic book.

Source: unknown