Born in Wakefield, Massachusetts, on March 1, 1896, Royal Little lived in many parts of this country before returning to Brookline to attend Noble and Greenough School at the direction of his uncle, Arthur D. Little. While at Nobles, Mr. Little made the ten mile round trip by bicycle each day, showed early signs of his business acumen by establishing a confetti business, and served as editor of The Nobleman . On graduation from Nobles in 1915, Mr. Little entered Harvard College, where his college career was interrupted by World War I. He joined the Harvard infantry regiment, and following officer training, joined the 42nd Division's 176 Infantry Regiment of the Alabama National Guard in France and fought in virtually every major battle in which American forces were engaged.

Upon his graduation from Harvard in the Class of 1919, Royal Little invested his entire wartime savings ($2,500) in a small manufacturer of rayon. In 1923 it was clear that he would operate more efficiently in his own firm, and, with borrowed funds, he formed Special Yarns Corporation, which 10 years later would produce Textron. When Mr. Little retired from Textron in 1961, the company had grown from three employees to an industrial complex employing nearly 30,000 persons in 90 plants, producing annual sales of $400 million and an annual profit of $14 million.

In 1960 Mr. Little formed Narragansett Capital Corporation to provide small business loans on a nationwide basis. Royal Little's civic and philanthropic work has touched different communities and interest. In Providence he established the Rhode Island Charities Trust to benefit the Providence Community Fund. In Nashua, New Hampshire, he conceived and helped organize the Nashua Foundation, a non-profit trust that administered Nashua's idle properties, worked to attract new industries and benefited the Crotchet Mountain Foundation for Crippled children.

Following one his early safaris, Mr. Little became interested in saving African wildlife. He informed and involved thousands and Tuha National Park, an area half again the size of Yellowstone, was established for the protection of African wildlife.

Mr. Little is a trustee of The Museum of Science, the L.S.B. Leaky Foundation for Research, The American Friends of the Bahamas, and the Little Family Foundation. In addition to his continued and active business interest, Mr. Little enjoys golf, bridge, and tennis . He has been the recipient of the Business Hall of Fame award in 1975, and the Academy of Distinguished entrepreneurs, Babson College in 1978. He is the author of How to Lose $100,000,000 and Other Valuable Advice and numerous articles in Fortune magazine. While spending time in his Providence office and his Narragansett house, Mr. Little now resides in Nassau, Bahamas.