Christopher Robin Milne
Christopher Robin Milne was born, according to The Times of London,
"in a genteel street of bay-windowed cottages where fuchsias and
geraniums flourished in fastidious front gardens."
Daphne Milne with her son, Christopher Robin, Cotchford Farm, Sussex,
c. 1925
His father was a playwright and novelist, but he became most
successful with the stories he wrote about his son.
The two most famous are Winnie the Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner.
Christopher Robin did have a stuffed bear named Pooh, and he did
remember playing "pooh sticks" as a boy. But as he grew up, he found
it hard to remember which of his childhood memories were real and
which his father had invented for his books.
While A. A. Milne was most famous for writing about his only son,
according to Christopher Milne the writing took the place of spending
time with him. As a young boy, Milne spent most of his time with his
nanny in a nursery on the top floor of the house. Three times a day
the nanny would formally bring him downstairs to see his parents.
When he was old enough, Milne was sent to a boarding school. Winnie
the Pooh was already tremendously famous, and Milne was often teased
by other students.
Throughout his adult life, Milne tried to distance himself from his
famous name. He opened a bookstore in London, but found that customers
came in on a regular basis to meet "the real Christopher Robin." "I'll
write about him and see how he likes it," Milne once said of his
father.
In the 1940s, that is exactly what he did. He published a series of
three autobiographies. Eventually, Milne decided to use his name to
advantage, selling autographed copies of his father's books for Save
the Children.
Christopher Robin Milne died in April 1996. And Winnie the Pooh's best
friend, Christopher Robin? He will probably live forever.
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