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‘NCIS’ Alum Michael Weatherly Uploads Pic of Son Liam Reading ‘Lord of the Flies’ with Interesting Fact

What’s better than a little Monday evening trivia? NCIS star Michael Weatherly took to social media to share a little-known fact with his fans.

Loyal fans of the military crime drama know Michael Weatherly by his character’s name — Anthony DiNozzo. He played the role of DiNozzo from 2003 until 2016. Before that, Weatherly played Logan Cale in the drama Dark Angel from 2000 to 2002. And in 2016, he portrayed Dr. Jason Bull in the courtroom drama, Bull.

But on Monday evening, Michael Weatherly was just simply dad. He posted an adorable photo of his son, Liam to his official Twitter account. In the snap, Liam is reading Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Along with the cute picture, Weatherly offered up an interesting fact for his followers.

“A book entitled Strangers from Within was initially rejected by an in-house reader at publishers Faber and Faber as ‘Rubbish & Dull. Pointless..’ The title was considered ‘too abstract and too explicit.’ Eventually published as Lord of the Flies.”

Former ‘NCIS’ Star Sparks Discussion About ‘Lord of the Flies’

The post definitely gave fans of Michael Weatherly and NCIS something to think about. Many of them took to the replies section of Weatherly’s post to chime in with their thoughts.

“So incredible to believe that one of literature’s greatest readings was almost not published,” one fan wrote. “Sadly, thinking it over, it almost feels like we were living through this the last 4 years until Inauguration day. Seeing Liam’s face, give him a hug.”

“Liam is a handsome boy!” another Twitter user responded. “Look at his expression, what’s Liam looking at? Hopefully Michael you’re reading it with him! Much love to you and your family!”

Other Interesting Facts About ‘Lord of the Flies’

But why were publishers so hesitant to publish Lord of the Flies? Since the book was the first written by William Golding, it was met with little interest from most publishing companies. Even Golding’s daughter could recall her father — who needed the money — struggling with rejection letters.

“My earliest memory is not of the book itself but of a lot of parcels coming back and being sent off again very quickly,” she told The Guardian. “He must have been grief-stricken every time it returned. Even paying for the postage was a commitment.”

And even though we say stars today like NCIS alum Michael Weatherly with copies of the book, Lord of the Flies was not a success initially. It saw its release in September of 1954, but Lord of the Flies didn’t perform well at bookstores. As a matter of fact, it only sold 4662 copies in the first year and fell out of print shortly after. However, it eventually regained traction, and by 1962, an audience of 65,000 had purchased copies of the book.

Since then, the popular book has been cited as a personal favorite of another famous author. That would be the one and only Stephen King. He wrote the following in a 2011 edition of the novel:

“It was, so far as I can remember, the first book with hands — strong ones that reached out of the pages and seized me by the throat. It said to me, ‘This is not just entertainment; it’s life or death.’”