<P> In the following six books, Olaf disguises himself, finds the children and, with help from his many accomplices, tries to steal their fortune, committing arson, murder and other crimes . In the eighth through twelfth books, the orphans adopt disguises while on the run from the police after Count Olaf frames them for one of his murders . The Baudelaires routinely try to get help from Mr. Poe, but he, like many of the adults in the series, is oblivious to the dangerous reality of the children's situation . </P> <P> As the books continue, the children uncover more of the mystery surrounding their parents' deaths and find that their parents were in a secret organization, V.F.D., along with several other adults they meet . After the acronym first appears at the end of The Austere Academy, the siblings find several red herrings that share the initials . They then start to meet "volunteers" and gradually learn about the organization, although they discover several mysteries that are never explained . In The End, the children find a diary written by their parents that answers many of their questions but also raises many more . The children leave with another young orphan on a boat from a remote island at the end of the series, their fates left unknown . </P> <P> The author of the series, Daniel Handler (who uses the pseudonym Lemony Snicket), has said in an interview with The A.V. Club that he decided to write a children's story when he was trying to find a publisher for his first novel, The Basic Eight . One of the publishers, HarperCollins, passed on The Basic Eight, but they were interested in him writing a story for children . Handler thought it was a terrible idea at first, but met with the publishers to discuss the book . They challenged him to write the book he wished he could have read when he was 10 . He retooled a manuscript he had for a mock - Gothic book for adults, which became "the story of children growing through all these terrible things", a concept which the publishers liked, to Handler's surprise . </P> <P> The first book in the series was The Bad Beginning, released September 30, 1999 . When asked in a Moment Magazine interview about the Baudelaire children and Handler's own Jewish heritage he replied, "Oh yeah! Yes . The Baudelaires are Jewish! I guess we would not know for sure but we would strongly suspect it, not only from their manner but from the occasional mention of a rabbi or bar mitzvah or synagogue . The careful reader will find quite a few rabbis ." </P>

Is a series of unfortunate events based on a real story