Christine Pullein-Thompson
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Christine Pullein-Thompson, later Christine Popescu and a nom de plume of Christine Keir (1 October 1925 – 2 December 2005) was a British horsewoman and writer known for her
pony book A pony is a type of small horse, usually measured under a specified height at maturity. Ponies often have thicker coats, manes and tails, compared to larger horses, and proportionally shorter legs, wider barrels, heavier , thicker necks and s ...
s. Her mother, her two sisters and her daughter also wrote pony books; together they created more than 200 books for children – and Christine wrote more than 100 of them.


Life

Pullein-Thompson was born in Wimbledon. Her father, Harold Pullein-Thompson, had the
Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...
and her mother,
Joanna Cannan Joanna Maxwell Cannan (27 May 1896 – 22 April 1961) was an English writer of pony books and detective novels, the former aimed mainly at children. She belonged to a family of prolific writers. Life Herself the youngest daughter of Charles Ca ...
an author credited with starting the idea of pony books in 1936. She was the second of twins. They had an elder sister and an elder brother. Denis would adopt his mother's name and become an actor and successful comedy playwright under the name
Denis Cannan Denis Cannan (14 May 1919 – 25 September 2011) was a British dramatist, playwright and script writer. Born Denis Pullein-Thompson, the son of Captain Harold J. Pullein-Thompson and novelist Joanna Cannan, he changed his name by deed poll in 196 ...
. All the sisters would be writers. The family home was a villa in the suburb of
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
. Her father was badly wounded in the war and in frequent pain with related bad temper. He had earned the
Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...
. He had just survived when many of his fellows had been killed. He had been a teacher but he then sold fridges and had a game company, but it has her mother who made more money writing pony books on the kitchen table. The family moved to
Rotherfield Peppard Rotherfield Peppard (often referred to simply as Peppard by locals) is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire. It is centred west of Henley-on-Thames, north of Reading, Berkshire and southwest of Rotherfield Gr ...
in Oxfordshire, where their large house, The Grove, had its own stables. Christine could ride at age seven and she her sisters would compete in events. In time they would describe their country childhood in their joint auto biography ''Fair Girls and Grey Horses'' (2014). The life that they lead as children was going to the subject of many of their books. The girls had an unusual education as distinct from their brother who went to
Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
; their mother taught them at home. When she and her twin were 14 years old and her sister was 15, they abandoned education and started a riding school at their home. The riding school brought in extra money as the three sisters taught others to ride. In 1946, she had a share in her first book ''It Began With Picotee'', which the three sisters had created together in 1941. Her sisters both published a book of their own the same year, but Christine's first solo book, ''We Rode to the Sea'', was not published until 1948. Diana and Christine intended to be professional horse riders in America. Christine went to start work in Virginia, but Diana was denied entry to the USA in 1952, as the medical revealed that she had
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
. Christine returned to be with her and Diana was sent to recover in Switzerland courtesy of the country's new
National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...
. 1952 was also the end of the stables that they had grown up with. Their mother would not allow the sisters to pay for their maintenance. At the stables they had taught Julian Popescu to ride and in 1954 Christine met him again and they were married. During the 1970s, she suffered with a bad back and she reluctantly gave up riding. She wrote several sequels to
Black Beauty ''Black Beauty: His Grooms and Companions, the Autobiography of a Horse'' is an 1877 novel by English author Anna Sewell. It was written from a horse as main character's perspective. She wrote it in the last years of her life, during which s ...
and the three sisters repeated the collaboration that had started their careers when they published "Black Beauty's Family" in 1975. There were three stories about three of Black Beauty's relatives: the racehorse Black Velvet, Black Ebony who works near the mines and Black Princess of World War One. Christine wrote about Black Velvet. She was a member of
PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide professional association, association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association ...
, where her elder sister was President. She also started two groups of Riding for the Disabled. Besides running the stables she surrounded herself with animals and her four children were all members of the
Pony Club Pony Club is an international youth organization devoted to educating youth about horses and riding. Pony Club organizations exist in over thirty countries worldwide. Overview Pony clubs began in England in 1929 by Harry Faudel-Phillips to ...
.


Death and legacy

She wrote more than 100 books, of which 40 were not about ponies. She wrote several book series including one about a ghost horse and another about a dog named Jessie. She died at the age of 80 on 2 December 2005 in Norwich.


Works

*''We Rode to the Sea'' (1948) *''We Hunted Hounds'' (1949) *''I Carried The Horn'' (1951) *''Goodbye To Hounds'' (1952) *''Riders From Afar'' (1954) *''Phantom Horse'' (1955) *''A Day To Go Hunting'' (1956) *''The First Rosette'' (1956) *''The Second Mount'' (1957) *''Stolen Ponies'' (1957) *''The Impossible Horse'' (1957) *''Three To Ride'' (1958) *''The Lost Pony'' (1959) *''Ride By Night'' (1960) *''The Horse Sale'' (1960) *''For Want Of A Saddle'' (1960) *''Giles And The Elephant'' (1960) *''The Empty Field'' (1961) *''Giles And The Greyhound'' (1961) *''The Open Gate'' (1962) *''Bandits In The Hills'' (1962) *''Giles And The Canal'' (1962) *''The Gipsy Children'' (1962) *''The Doping Affair'' (1963, later published as ''The Pony Dopers'') *''The Eastmans In Brittany'' (1964) *''Granny Comes To Stay'' (1964) *''No-One At Home'' (1964) *''Homeless Katie'' (1964) *''The Boys From The Cafe'' (1965) *''The Eastmans Move House'' (1965) *''A Dog In A Pram'' (1965) *''The Eastmans Find A Boy'' (1966) *''The Stolen Car'' (1966) *''A Day To Remember'' (1966) *''The Lost Cow'' (1966) *''Little Black Pony'' (1967) *''Robbers In The Night'' (1967) *''Room To Let'' (1968) *''Nigel Eats His Words'' (1969) *''Phantom Horse Comes Home'' (1970) *''Riders On The March'' (1970) *''Phantom Horse Goes To Ireland'' (1972; later republished as ''Phantom Horse Disappears'') *''They Rode To Victory''(1972) *''A Pony Scrapbook'' (1972) *''I Rode A Winner'' (1973) *''A Second Pony Scrapbook'' (1973) *''Follyfoot Pony Quiz Book'' (1974) *''Black Velvet'' (1975) *''Good Riding'' (non-fiction, 1975) *''Christine Pullein-Thompson's Book of Pony Stories'' (1975) *''A Pony To Love'' (non-fiction, 1975) *''Strange Riders At Black Pony Inn'' (1976) *''Mystery At Black Pony Inn'' (1976) *''Pony Patrol'' (1977) *''Pony Patrol S.O.S.'' (1977) *''Pony Patrol Fights Back'' (1977) *''Christine Pullein-Thompson's Second Book of Pony Stories'' (1977) *''Ride Better And Better'' (with her sisters, non-fiction, 1977) *''Blossom'' (1978) *''Pony Parade'' (1978) *''Prince At Black Pony Inn'' (1978) *''Secrets At Black Pony Inn'' (1978) *''Riding For Fun'' (non-fiction) (1978) *''Improve Your Riding'' (non-fiction, 1979) *''Phantom Horse In Danger'' (1980) *''Pony Patrol And The Mystery Horse'' (1981) *''Phantom Horse Goes To Scotland'' (1981; later republished as ''Phantom Horse Island Mystery'') *''Father Unknown'' (1981) *''Black Pioneer'' (1982) *''Ponies In The Park'' (1982) *''Ponies In The Forest'' (1983) *''Ponies In The Blizzard'' (1984) *''Wait For Me Phantom Horse'' (1985; later republished as ''Phantom Horse Wait For Me'') *''A Home For Jessie'' (1986) *''Please Save Jessie ''(1987) *''Stay At Home, Ben'' (1987) *''Careless Ben'' (1988) *''The Big Storm'' (1988) *''The Road Through The Hills'' (1988) *''Candy Goes To The Gymkhana'' (1989) *''Candy Stops A Train'' (1989) *''Catastrophe At Black Pony Inn'' (1989) *''Good Deeds At Black Pony Inn '' (1989) *''Smoke In The Hills'' (1989) *''Across The Frontier'' (1990) *''Runaway Ben'' (1990) *''Come Home, Jessie'' (1991) *''The Long Search'' (1991) *''I Want That Pony!'' (1993) *''A Pony In Distress'' (1994) *''The Best Pony For Me!'' (1995) *''Fair Girls and Grey Horses'' (1996) (with her sisters). *''Horsehaven'' (1996) *''Bedtime Pony Stories'' (1997) *''Sundance Saves The Day'' (1997)Based on Julip horses, sold exclusively through their catalogue *''More Bedtime Pony Stories'' (1997) *''The Pony Test'' (1997) *''Incredible Pony Tales'' (1998) *''Magical Pony Tales'' (1998) *''The Pony Picnic'' (1998) *''Havoc At Horsehaven'' (1999) *''Horsehaven Lives On'' (1999) *''A Yo-Yo For Sam'' (1999) Note: ''The Impossible Horse'' has been published under the name of Christine Keir, which may have been a pseudonym, as it is the same story. Also, the book ''Riding'' (1983) has also been published under the same name.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pullein-Thompson, Christine 1925 births 2005 deaths 20th-century English women writers British women children's writers English children's writers English twins