| Christine Pullein-Thompson | |
| Birth Date: | 1 October 1925 |
| Birth Place: | Wimbledon, London, England |
| Death Place: | Norwich, England |
| Other Names: | Christine Keir |
| Known For: | books about ponies |
| Occupation: | writer |
| Spouse: | Julian Popescu |
| Children: | Philip, Charlotte Popescu, Mark and Lucy |
| Relatives: | Diana Pullein-Thompson (twin) Josephine Pullein-Thompson (sister) |
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 books. Her mother, her two sisters and her daughter also wrote pony books; together they created over 200 books for children - and Christine wrote over 100 of them.
Pullein-Thompson was born in Wimbledon. Her father, Harold Pullein-Thompson, had the Military Cross and her mother, Joanna Cannan 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. All the sisters would be writers.[1]
The family home was a villa in the suburb of Wimbledon. Her father was badly wounded in the war and in frequent pain with related bad temper. He had earned the Military Cross. 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 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).[2] 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; their mother taught them at home.
When she and her twin were fourteen and her sister was fifteen they abandoned education and started a riding school at their home.[3] The riding school brought in extra money as the three sisters taught others to ride.[4]
In 1946 she had a share in her first book It Began With Picotee which the three sisters had created together in 1941.[5] Her sisters both published a book of their own the same year, but Christine first solo book, We Rode to the Sea, was not until 1948.
Diana and Christine intended to be professional horse riders in America. Christine went to start work in Virginia,[6] but Diana was denied entry in 1952 to the USA as the medical revealed that she had tuberculosis. Christine returned to be with her[6] and Diana was sent to recover in Switzerland courtesy of the country's new National Health Service.[4]
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.[6]
She wrote several sequels to Black Beauty 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.[7]
She was a member of PEN International 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.
She wrote over 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.[6] She died on 2 December 2005 in Norwich.[8]
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.