Alan Milne
 
 

Alan Alexander Milne was born January 18, 1882, the youngest of three sons to Sarah Marie and John Vine Milne. His father ran a school for young boys, Henley House, in which Alan, and his older brothers, David Barrett Milne (Barry) and Kenneth John Milne (Ken) grew up in.

Alan was always close to his father, and more so to his brother Ken. Ken remained Alan's closest friend up until his death in 1929.

Alan first started taking classes at Henley House, his father's school. Among his teachers there was one H.G. Wells, who was a dear friend to Alan. From Henley House, he went to Westminster School, then decided to attend Cambridge on a mathematics scholarship.

John Milne had set aside roughly £1000 for his sons to use after they had finished with their schooling, and Alan used this money to move to London and begin a career as an author. Alan was earning money writing articles freelance, which he would send to newspapers, as well as publications such as Punch. He made the most money from articles published in the St James Gazette. H.G. Wells had suggested to Alan that a series of articles he had written for the St James Gazette could be the basis for a book. In March 1905, Lovers in London was published.

Later in 1905, Punch began to regularly print Milne's pieces, and his financial situation began to get a bit more secure. On February 13, 1906, he began his new job as the full time assistant editor of the Punch, offered to him by the editor, Owen Seaman.

His brother, Ken had married Maud Innes in 1906. Alan spent a great deal of time with Ken's family, and Ken's first daughter, Marjorie, was the subject of many articles. These articles provided Alan with an insight into the mind of a child, which helped him with his future children's books.

Owen Seaman had introduced Alan to his god-daughter, Dorothy de Selincourt (Daphne to her friends) at her coming-out dance, and the two spent a great deal of time with each other. They married in 1913.

War broke out in Europe, and Milne, though a pacifist, felt that he had to do something, and thus he volunteered himself on February 10, 1915. On August of 1915, Alan was sent to the Southern Command Signalling School at Wyke Regis near Weymouth for a nine-week course, after which he became a signalling officer. He spent the winter on the Isle of Wight, during which time, he wrote Wurzel-Flummery, his first play.

Alan left the front lines on November 8, 1916, due to a fever he had contracted, and returned to England. After he recovered, he was was put in charge of a company at a new formed signalling school at Fort Southwick. He stayed there until he was released from the army on February 14, 1919.

After being released from the army, Owen Seaman suggested Alan to spend more time concentrating on his plays. Milne wrote many plays, including Mr Pim Passes By, Belinda, The Lucky One, The Romantic Age, The Dover Road, and The Truth About Bladys. It was also during this period that Milne wrote his first two novels: an adaptation of Mr Pim Passes By, and a mystery book, The Red House Mystery, which has been his most successful book other than his four children's books.

On August 21, 1920, his son, Christopher Robin Milne was born. Milne would always call his son Billy in his correspondence to friends and family. The Moon part came about as Christopher's own pronounciation of his last name as a young child. It stuck with him.

Alan had written "Vespers" after watching Billy say his evening prayers one night, and gave it to Daphne as a present. He told her that she could keep any money she could get for publishing it. It turned out to be the most expensive gift he ever gave her. Daphne sent it to Vanity Fair in New York. It was printed in January 1923, for which Daphne earned $50. The big pay-off came when it was included in When We Were Very Young, and Daphne earned a fraction of the royalties from the book.

"Vespers" became instantly popular, and Milne was asked to provide another children's verse for a new children's magazine entitled The Merry-Go-Round. That poem was "The Dormouse and the Doctor", and also became quickly famous. Alan toyed with the idea of writing a whole book of children's verse, and the result was When We Were Very Young, published in 1924. To illustrate the book, Milne enlisted the aid of Punch illustrator, Ernest Shepard. The combination of Milne's poetry and Shepard's drawings proved to be a winner, as the book sold over 50,000 copies within the first eight weeks of its publication.

The next book would be of short stories concerning Billy's nursery toys. It was entitled Winnie-the-Pooh, and once again, huge amounts of books were sold quickly. Alan had recognized the importance Shepard's illustrations had played in When Were Very Young, and decided that instead of a flat rate, Shepard deserved a share of the royalties. An extremely unusual concept at the time, Alan set the split at 80/20.

Alan often gave to charities, among them the Royal Literary Fund, the Society of Authors Fund, and the Children's Country Holiday Fund. He also made sure to set aside enough money for the future of his family and of Ken's.

Ken had been diagnosed with tuberculosis, and in the spring of 1924 became so ill that he resigned from his job at the Ministry of Pensions and moved to the country. Alan wrote him and told himthat he would help pay for the expenses. He also offered to pay £100 per child per year for the education of Ken's four children. With the success of When We Were Very Young, and the subsequent three books, Alan helped out even more with Ken's medical expenses and his nieces and nephews education. Alan also convinced Ken to do some writing for Punch and helped him to get a job at Methuen (his British publisher) reviewing books.

With the publication of The House at Pooh Corner, Milne announced that it was the last Christopher Robin book he would write.

In 1929, "Toad of Toad Hall" was produced. Alan had actually written this play (based on Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows) back in 1921, but it hadn't yet been produced. Alan had always been a fan of The Wind in the Willows, and labored to adapt it to the stage. Kenneth Grahame invited Alan to share his booth at the opening, and was pleased at the result. The play was a success, and quickly became a Christmas tradition to see the play with family. Today, it remains the only Milne play still regularly produced.

Milne continued to write plays, and was somewhat upset at the reaction he was getting from fans who wished to see more verse and children's stories come from him. After the children's books, Alan's plays never were quite as successful in London.

Ken's death was hard on Alan. He had lost his closest friend in life. More and more so, he would spend time with Ken's widow, Maud, and her family. Throughout the '30s, Maud, and Barry's wife Connie, would be the most important women in his life, as Daphne and Alan began to drift apart. Alan and Daphne had made a visit to America in 1931, and Daphne fell in love with New York. She would take long vacations each year apart from Alan. That suited him just fine, because he could spend time alone with Billy, who was beginning to be a replacement for Ken. Alan and Billy would join Maud and her family for the four summers from 1934 to 1937 to vacation on the Dorset coast.

War loomed on the horizon once again in 1934, with Hitler beginning his reign in Germany and Mussolini gaining power in Italy. A pacifist since his days from World War I, Alan wrote a book entitled Peace With Honour which was published in September 1934. Many people hailed it as a great book, but it also had many critics, among them T. S. Eliot. Eliot asserted that some things were worth fighting for, but at the time, Alan could not think of anything worth repeating the Somme for. He would later change his mind and would write a pamphlet called War With Honour, in which he explained his changed views.

The war brought about some changes in the Milne family. The Milnes left London permanently in 1940, moving in to Cotchford. Now forced to spend time together due to the war, Alan and Daphne became much closer than they had been in the '30s.

Christopher wishing to help in the wartime effort, joined the second training battalion of the Royal Engineers in February 1941. He was commissioned in July 1942. He then sailed to the Middle East. Christopher was away for about three years, and during that time, began to lose his dependence on his father.

During the war, demand for Milne's children's books was so high that Methuen was having trouble getting enough paper to keep them in print. After the war, sales continued to increase. Alan was resenting having written the books at all. He was continuing to write. Chloe Marr came out in 1946, his first novel in fifteen years, and the last he would write. It received good reviews, and several critics praised Milne for once again creating his special humor. A number of Milne's plays were continuing to be produced by repertory companies. In 1948, thirteen different Milne plays were produced. Alan published his last book Year In, Year Out in 1952.

Christopher continued to distance himself from his parents. He had begun to resent his father and hated the books that made his name famous. In February 1948, he met his cousin Lesley de Selincourt and married her in July. Alan and Daphne were somewhat dismayed at the marriage. In 1951, Christopher and Lesley left the area to move to Dartmouth, 200 miles away, to start a bookshop.

In October 1952, Milne had a stroke which left him an invalid for his remaining years. Though not expected to live more than six weeks, Alan would remain alive for a little over three years. During this time, Christopher seldom returned home to visit his father. A. A. Milne died on January 31, 1956. A memorial service was held for him on February 10 at All Hallows-by-the-Tower in London. This service would be the last time Christopher would ever see his mother, even though Daphne lived for another fifteen years.

In 1961, Daphne sold the film rights of the books to Walt Disney, who created animated features of the stories. Christopher Milne eventually came to terms with his father, and eventually turned to writing himself, authoring The Enchanted Places and The Path Through the Trees. Today, Milne's children's books continue to be best sellers, and his play, "Toad of Toad Hall", continues to be a Christmas
favorite.