Pullein-Thompson, Christine 1930–2005

(Christine Keir, Christine Popescu)

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born October 1, 1930, in Wimbledon, Surrey, England; died December 2, 2005, in Norwich, England. Author. Pullein-Thompson was a children's book author best known for her dozens of books in the "pony" subgenre about young girls and their special bonds with horses. Coming from a writing family that included her mother, Joanna Cannan, and her sisters and brother. Pullein-Thompson and her family often collaborated on projects. The daughter of a successful Oxford dean, Pullein-Thompson and her siblings enjoyed a country life surrounded by the horses that eventually became characters in her fiction. She and her sisters also founded and ran the Grove Riding School. After publishing a collaborative story with her sisters Diana and Josephine, titled It Began with Picotee (1946), Pullein-Thompson released her own book, We Rode to the Sea (1948). What followed was a string of about one hundred stories in the pony subgenre; thus, Pullein-Thompson is often credited with establishing the popularity of this type of novel for young readers. The horse tales were her mainstay, but Pullein-Thompson also occasionally ventured into mainstream fiction for both young readers and adults, and with her Iron Curtain: Across the Frontier (1990) and The Long Search (1991) she even created wartime fictions inspired by her husband Julian Popescu's experiences. Among her more recent titles are The Pony Test (1997), Bedtime Pony Stories (1997), Incredible Pony Tales (1998), and Havoc at Horse Haven (1999).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Independent (London, England), December 7, 2005, p. 37.

Times (London, England), December 19, 2005, p. 47.