DBE in Louisiana
Get To Know Agatha
The theme of the 2016 Pub Night fundraiser is Agatha Christie, so we thought you'd like to know more about her.
The Guinness Book of World Records lists Agatha Christie as the best selling writer of all time. Her Estate puts her third behind William Shakespeare and the Bible.
Agatha: writer, traveler, playwright, wife, mother, surfer, musician . . .
Born: 15 September, 1890, Torquay, Devon
Married: Archibald "Archie" Christie, Christmas Eve, 1914
Divorced Archie 1928, but retained the Christie name for her writing
Married: archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan, 1930
Died: 12 January, 1976, Wallingford, Oxfordshire
Discover more about Agatha . . . .
She wrote six romance novels under the name Mary Westmacott
In 1917 she qualified as a dispenser, thus acquiring her knowledge of poisons
She named her house Styles in 1924 after the success of her first novel
She wrote her first novel as the result of a challenge from her sister Madge
Her play "The Mousetrap" has the longest theatrical run - opening in London in 1952, and still running
"The Mousetrap" began life as a 20-minute radio play
In 1922 she traveled around the world
In her late teens she studied to become a classical pianist, but was too nervous to perform
Miss Marple was based on her maternal grandmother
Her favorite writers were Elizabeth Bowen and Graham Greene
She is the only female dramatist ever to have three plays running simultaneously in London's West End
"Halloween Party" is dedicated to P G Wodehouse, whom she admired
She wrote many of her novels while on archaeological digs, many of them in a specially built house, called 'Beit Agatha'
She accepted the presidency of the famous Detection Club in 1958, on the strict understanding that she would never have to make a speech
At the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention in May 2000, she was named mystery writer of the century, and the Poirot books mystery series of the century
2016 marks 100 years since Agatha Christie created one of the most famous fictional characters of all time . . . Hercule Poirot, forever to be known for his 'little grey cells'
Agatha's two other famous detective series . . Miss Marple, whose 'little old lady' looks are very deceiving, and Tommy and Tuppence, the bright young things of the 1920s who together formed the "Young Adventurers Ltd."
In Agatha's own words . . .
"The truth, however ugly in itself, is always curious and beautiful to seekers after it."
"I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow; but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing."
"It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them."
"The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes."