A Man and His Bear

On January 18, 1882, a boy was born who would impact the lives of children for generations. His parents named him Alan. You and I know him as A. A. Milne.

Alan grew up in London, surrounded by educators, for his father ran a public school (what we in the U.S. would term a private school). Alan attended Cambridge, and although we know him for his literary prowess, he attended university on a mathematics scholarship and studied mathematics. But even as an undergrad, he began his literary career; he worked for a student magazine. Also during this time he developed literary friendships, playing cricket with future authors J. M. Barry (Peter Pan) and Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes).

Alan married Dorothy "Daphne" de Selincourt in 1913. As with many romances of the day, it was put on hold while England lost nearly an entire generation of men in World War I. Alan was wounded at the Somme in 1916 and sent home to recuperate, and then, instead of returning to Franc, he was recruited by military intelligence to write propaganda. He spent the rest of the war in England. When the war ended and life resumed, Alan and Daphne welcomed a son, Christopher Robin Milne.

Alan wrote for the magazine Punch! before WWI, and in 1920 published a collection of children's poems called When We Were Young. The first stories that would later become our beloved Winnie the Pooh were not published until 1925. During this time, Alan also wrote screenplays for Britain's rising film industry.

Alan did not set out to write children's stories. He wanted to write detective novels, but his editors and publishers said the demand was for children's stories. That's what would sell, so that is what he should write. Alan never quite reconciled to that fact, even though the Pooh stories made him famous. He was disappointed that he couldn't write what he pleased.

As a writer myself, I can understand that. I take to heart the advice to write what I ant to read. If anyone wants to join me in the reading, they are welcome.

In any event, happy birthday to A. A. Milne!