David Henry Benedictus (born 16 September 1938) is an English writer and theatre director, best known for his novels. His work includes the

Winnie-the-Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character w ...

novel ''

Return to the Hundred Acre Wood ''Return to the Hundred Acre Wood'' is a '' Winnie-the-Pooh'' novel published on 5 October 2009. Written by David Benedictus and illustrated by Mark Burgess, it was the first such book since 1928 and introduced the character Lottie the Otter. ...

'' (2009). It was the first such book in 81 years.

Life

Born in 1938 to chartered accountant Henry Jules Benedictus and Kathleen Constance (née Ricardo). He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, and the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

. His first novel '' The Fourth of June'' was a best-seller and he adapted it for the London stage. His second novel, ''

You're a Big Boy Now ''You're a Big Boy Now'' is a 1966 American comedy film written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Based on David Benedictus' 1963 novel of the same name, it stars Elizabeth Hartman, Peter Kastner, Geraldine Page, Rip Torn, Karen Black, ...

'', was made into a 1966 feature film directed by

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five A ...

. He was an assistant to

Trevor Nunn Sir Trevor Robert Nunn (born 14 January 1940) is a British theatre director. He has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed dramas f ...

at the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

. He has also worked as a

commissioning editor In book publishing, a commissioning editor is essentially a buyer. It is the job of the commissioning editor to advise the publishing house on which books to publish. Usually the actual decision of whether to contract a book is taken by a senior ma ...

for Drama at

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

, and ran the ''

Book at Bedtime ''Book at Bedtime'' (''A Book at Bedtime'' until 9 July 1993) is a long-running radio programme that is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 each weekday evening between 22.45 and 23.00. The programme presents readings of fiction, including modern classics, ...

'' series for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

. He previously wrote and produced audio readings of the ''Pooh'' stories, with

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...

as Kanga and

Geoffrey Palmer Geoffrey Palmer may refer to: Politicians * Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 1st Baronet (1598–1670), English lawyer and politician *Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 3rd Baronet (1655–1732), English politician, Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicestershire *Geoffrey Pa ...

Eeyore Eeyore ( ) is a fictional character in the ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' books by A. A. Milne. He is generally characterized as a pessimistic, gloomy, depressed, anhedonic, old grey stuffed donkey who is a friend of the title character, Winnie-th ...

. He sent the trustees of the

A. A. Milne Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winni ...

estate two sample stories of his sequel, and it took more than eight years for them to approve the project. At the time of the book's publication he admitted to nerves over its reception, saying,

What's the worst thing that can happen, that I'll be torn apart by wild journalists? Happened before and I survived. At worst everyone will hate me and I'll just crawl under a bush and hide – I can live with that. Some people do hate the whole idea of a sequel, but it's not as if I'm doing any damage to the original, that will still be there. My hope is that people will finish reading a cracking story and just want more of them, and that's where I come in.

Michael Brown, chairman of the Pooh Properties Trust, said Benedictus had a "wonderful feel" for the world of Pooh. However, ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' was cool on the book, describing it as "largely forgettable" and as missing "the charm of the first book". Benedictus commented on his work in 1985, "Given peace of mind, financial independence, and a modicum of luck, I may produce a novel to be proud of one day." In March, 2014, he moved to

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...

, a resort on the south coast of England, to be close to his extending family. He has four children,

Jolyon Maugham Jolyon Toby Dennis Maugham (; born 1 July 1971) is a British barrister. A taxation law specialist, he is the founder and director of the Good Law Project, through which he has played a role in bringing to court a number of legal challenges to th ...

KC, a barrister, Leo a journalist and novelist (''The Afterparty'', his first novel, was published by Jonathan Cape), Chloe a psychodynamic psychotherapist, and Jessica, a theatre producer. He published an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, ''Dropping Names'', in 2005. According to an interview Benedictus gave to the Israeli newspaper

Yediot Aharonot ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' ( he, יְדִיעוֹת אַחֲרוֹנוֹת, ; lit. ''Latest News'') is a national daily newspaper published in Tel Aviv, Israel. Founded in 1939 in British Mandatory Palestine, ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' is the largest paid n ...

in 2009, he said that a cousin had done research into his surname and found out that it was actually " Baruch" (ברוך - having the same meaning as "Benedictus" in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

), as well as research into how his ancestors emigrated to Britain, which revealed that they have

Ashkenazi Jewish Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

heritage.

Bibliography

*'' The Fourth of June'' (1962) *''

'' (1963) *'' This Animal is Mischievous'' (1965) *''Hump; or Bone By Bone Alive'' (1967) *''The Guru and the Golf Club'' (1969) *''World of Windows'' (1971) *''Junk!: How and Where to Buy Beautiful Things for Next to Nothing'' (1976) *'' The Rabbi's Wife'' (1977) *''A Twentieth Century Man'' (1978) *
Lloyd George: A Novel
' (1981, from the screenplay of a BBC miniseries by

Elaine Morgan Elaine Morgan OBE, FRSL (7 November 1920 – 12 July 2013), was a Welsh writer for television and the author of several books on evolutionary anthropology. She advocated the aquatic ape hypothesis, which she advocated as a corrective to what ...

) *''The Antique Collector's Guide'' (1981) *''Whose Life is it Anyway?'' (1982, from the

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

by Brian Clark) *''Local Hero'' (1983, from the

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

Bill Forsyth William David Forsyth (born 29 July 1946). known as Bill Forsyth, is a Scottish film director and writer known for his films '' Gregory's Girl'' (1981), '' Local Hero'' (1983) and '' Comfort and Joy'' (1984) as well as his adaptation of the Ma ...

) *''Essential Guide to London'' (1984) *'' Floating Down to Camelot'' (1985) *''Little Sir Nicholas'' (1990, with C. A. Jones) *''Odyssey of a Scientist'' (1991, with Hans Kalmus) *''Sunny Intervals and Showers: A Very British Passion'' (1992) *''The Stamp Collector'' (1994) *''What to Do When the Money Runs Out'' (2001, with Rupert Belsey) *''Dropping Names'' (2005) *''

'' (2009)

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benedictus, David 1938 births Living people People educated at Eton College Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford University of Iowa alumni English Jews English children's writers 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists English theatre directors English male novelists 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers