Philippa Pullar (12 February 1935, in London – 7 September 1997 in London) was a British author and jet set personality best remembered for her exhaustively researched 1975 biography of the Irish-American author

Frank Harris Frank Harris (14 February 1855 – 26 August 1931) was an Irish-American editor, novelist, short story writer, journalist and publisher, who was friendly with many well-known figures of his day. Born in Ireland, he emigrated to the United State ...

. The biography involved great amounts of traveling and research, not least because Harris had intricately woven fact and fiction in his famous five-volume autobiography, ''

My Life and Loves ''My Life and Loves'' is the autobiography of the Ireland-born, naturalized-American writer and editor Frank Harris (1856–1931). As published privately by Harris between 1922 and 1927, and by Jack Kahane's Obelisk Press in 1931, the work consi ...

''. Born Philippa King, she was daughter of an army major. She married Robert Pullar in 1958 and they had two sons. The marriage did not last and was dissolved before he died in 1996. In later years Pullar became known as a devotee of

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...

thought and prior to her death from cancer advocated various methods of natural and

alternative healing Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...

. Pullar had an extraordinary relationship with

Michael Holroyd Sir Michael de Courcy Fraser Holroyd (born 27 August 1935) is an English biographer. Early life and education Holroyd was born in London, the son of Basil de Courcy Fraser Holroyd (a descendant of Sir George Sowley Holroyd, Justice of the King' ...

(before he married author

Margaret Drabble Dame Margaret Drabble, Lady Holroyd, (born 5 June 1939) is an English biographer, novelist and short story writer. Drabble's books include '' The Millstone'' (1965), which won the following year's John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize, and ''Jer ...

), which Holroyd described in his memoir ''Mosaic'', published after her death.

Books by Philippa Pullar

''Consuming Passions: A History of English Food and Appetite''. Dedicated "to Michael with my love" - 1970 ''Frank Harris'' - 1975 ''Gilded butterflies: The Rise and Fall of the London Season'' - 1978 ''Special Friends'' - 1979 ''The Shortest Journey'' - 1984 - ''To the Light'' - 1985 ''Spiritual and Lay Healing'' - 1988 (with Lilla Beck) ''Healing with Chakra Energy: Restoring the Natural Harmony of the Body'' - 1994

External links

Sunday Herald's review of Holroyd's ''Mosaic''A brief sketch of some of Pullar's life and work
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pullar, Philippa 1935 births 1997 deaths