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 novel '' Return to the Hundred Acre Wood'' (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,

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. His first novel ''

The Fourth of June ''The Fourth of June'' is the first novel by David Benedictus. The novel was considered controversial when published in 1962 as it describes scenes of violent bullying at Eton College, unrestrained class warfare and suggestions of schoolboy sex ...

'' 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, and ...

'', 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 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 for Drama at Channel 4, 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. He previously wrote and produced audio readings of the ''Pooh'' stories, with Judi Dench as Kanga and Geoffrey Palmer as Eeyore. He sent the trustees of the A. A. Milne 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'' 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, a resort on the south coast of England, to be close to his extending family. He has four children, Jolyon Maugham 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), 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

*''

'' (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 ''The Rabbi's Wife'' is a 1977 novel by David Benedictus. The plot centers on the kidnapping of a rabbi's wife by Palestinian terrorists. At the time of its release, the book was reviewed in such publications as '' The Spectator'', ''British Bo ...

'' (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 s ...

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

by Bill Forsyth) *''Essential Guide to London'' (1984) *''

Floating Down to Camelot ''Floating Down to Camelot'' is a campus novel by David Benedictus published in 1985 and set in Cambridge. The title is drawn from Tennyson's poem ''The Lady of Shalott'', in which while floating down to Camelot the Lady of Shalott apparently d ...

'' (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) *'' Return to the Hundred Acre Wood'' (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