. . . . . . .my father roller skated with Agatha Christie!
That's not him in this photo with Agatha in the center. He would have
been only 10 years old at that time, however he told me that he skated on
the same Torquay pier at the harbour as a boy and recalled seeing her and
her friends having a great time.
Agatha on the right above.
stayed at Christmas 2016
The pier is still there and although I've never roller skated on it I have
sauntered along it more times than I can count. At one time there was
a theatre/dance hall at the end but it was destroyed in a fire in April 1974
and sadly never re-built. Ferry boats operate from the end of the pier and
cross Tor Bay to the busy fishing town of Brixham.
The seaside piers of Britain are an indisputably iconic fixture of life in many
of the coastal cities and towns, whether for function or fun.
Currently many huge cruise ships, including Cunard's Queen Victoria (one
of my favorites as we've sailed on her twice) are sheltering in Tor Bay and
along the English Channel coast while inoperable due to COVID-19.
This past Sunday PBS aired an interesting TV documentary about
the late Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie with several views
of Torquay, my own home town, where she was born and spent her
early life. . . . .as did I much later.
Granddaughter Jasmin 'meeting' Agatha Christie
Torquay, June 2015
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller;
15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her sixty-six
detective novels and fourteen short story collections, particularly those revolving
around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's
longest-running play, The Mousetrap, which was performed in the West End from
1952 to 2020, as well as six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971,
she was made a Dame (DBE) for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records
lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold
more than two billion copies.
Via Wikipedia
A recently published book titled 'The Mystery of Mrs. Christie'
by Marie Benedict has tweaked my interest. . . . . .
Described as 'Historical fiction, British literature, meta-mysteries, the real-life
1926 disappearance of novelist Agatha Christie, interesting questions,
reckless conjecture.'
If anyone has read this book I would love to know what you thought of it.
Can you tell I'm homesick?
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