HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAME AGATHA CHRISTIE!

[Fricka]

Baautiful roses there, becke. Do you know if there's ever been a rose named after Agatha Christie?

(Wouldn't it be great to have an Agatha Christie rose in your garden???)

Anyway, here's some info I got off the web about Christie's connection to the "English Riviera":

Murder Mystery on the new Agatha Christie Riviera Trail

English Riviera (c) ERTB

Visitors to The English Riviera in Devon can uncover even more ways to follow in the footsteps of the world’s greatest crime fiction writer, Dame Agatha Christie, with a number of new iniatives launched by the new English Riviera Tourism Company for 2011.

Fans of the famous author – as well as her two best-known sleuths, Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot – can turn detective themselves to discover a whole host of Christie connections on the English Riviera, in South Devon, throughout the year.

Just launched, and to portray the English Riviera Agatha Christie story in a compelling way, is an inspiring two-minute film, that includes live footage of the author speaking as well as great local scenery. Now available on You Tube you can view at www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFuuMrEIIN0

New for 2011 and designed for the independent traveller is the new ‘Agatha Christie Literary Trail’ based on the 20 special places that inspired her life and works across South Devon and the English Riviera. Agatha Christie fans will also enjoy the ‘did you know?’ snippets included as part of the trail.

With a front cover boasting an iconic Poirot image, the new trail leaflet includes an authentic and detailed map, complete with Agatha Christie connections.

Agatha Christie Riviera Trail (c) English Riviera Tourism Company

In addition to the new literary trail the famous Agatha Christie Mile in Torquay takes people to some of the additional places that were so special to her in her younger years including: Princess Pier where she enjoyed roller-skating, Beacon Cove where she was a regular swimmer and the Victorian Pavilion where she loved to dance.

The biggest celebration comes later in the year with the Agatha Christie Festival, (11th-18th September 2011). This annual Festival is packed with themed events across the English Riviera, including all-star theatre productions, guided tours and special events including Murder Mystery Dinners on steam trains to name but a few!

There’s also Torre Abbey, home to the new Agatha Christie’s Potent Plants featuring many of the poisonous plants that inspired some of her dramatic storylines and Torquay museum with its fascinating Agatha Christie Gallery, and the town’s bronze Agatha Christie bust statue situated at Royal Princess Gardens.

A little further a field and accessed by boat or classic bus is Agatha’s former summer home at Greenway, which opened for the 2011 season this month. Greenway, described by Agatha as ‘the most beautiful place in the world’, re-opened to the public in 2009 after a multi-million pound refurbishment by the National Trust and is set in a stunning location overlooking the river Dart. A visit to Greenway is an intimate affair with the house containing many personal collections insightful scrap books and mementoes of the world’s most famous crime writer in the world!

But your first clue to discovering more about the Agatha Christie’s Riviera is to visit www.englishriviera.co.uk/agathachristie

[becke_davis]

As a matter of fact, there is an AGATHA CHRISTIE rose:



[Fricka]

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becke_davis wrote:

As a matter of fact, there is an AGATHA CHRISTIE rose:



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I THOUGHT there might be! And if there was, you would be sure to know about it! I was right on both counts, becke! So, since this is Dame Agatha's birthdate, here's a bit of trivia for the Christie aficiandos in this forum:

What book(and dramatic production based on the book) featured Poirot getting a rose named after him????

[dulcinea3]

Happy Birthday, Dame Agatha!!!

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becke_davis wrote:

More Christie Quotes:

*I've always believed in writing without a collaborator, because where two people are writing the same book, each believes he gets all the worry and only half the royalties. 

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I thought that this quote was interesting, since she was a member of that Detection Club, or whatever it was called, in which mystery writers wrote books together.

[dulcinea3]

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becke_davis wrote:

Agatha Christie once chloroformed a hedgehog that had got entangled in a tennis net in order to set it free.

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Awww!  Now, that is a nice animal story!  Agatha put her pharmaceutical knowledge to good use there!  And hedgehogs are so adorable!  I remember seeing some in a pet store once, and was tempted!

 

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becke_davis wrote:

On her first journey on the Orient Express, Agatha got badly bitten by bedbugs. 

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All of a sudden, I'm not so interested in traveling on the Orient Express!!! 

[becke_davis]

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dulcinea3 wrote:

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becke_davis wrote:

Agatha Christie once chloroformed a hedgehog that had got entangled in a tennis net in order to set it free.

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Awww!  Now, that is a nice animal story!  Agatha put her pharmaceutical knowledge to good use there!  And hedgehogs are so adorable!  I remember seeing some in a pet store once, and was tempted!

 

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becke_davis wrote:

On her first journey on the Orient Express, Agatha got badly bitten by bedbugs. 

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All of a sudden, I'm not so interested in traveling on the Orient Express!!! 

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I used to have hedgehogs in my back garden when I lived in England. Heard one sneeze once - cutest thing EVER!!

[becke_davis]

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Fricka wrote:

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becke_davis wrote:

As a matter of fact, there is an AGATHA CHRISTIE rose:



---

I THOUGHT there might be! And if there was, you would be sure to know about it! I was right on both counts, becke! So, since this is Dame Agatha's birthdate, here's a bit of trivia for the Christie aficiandos in this forum:

What book(and dramatic production based on the book) featured Poirot getting a rose named after him????

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I know this, but let's see if anyone else does...

[becke_davis]

More Christie trivia: http://www.esparagon.com/AgathaChristieFacts.htm

*Agatha was a fast worker, once completing an entire book – Absent in the Spring by Mary Westmacott – in a single weekend.

*She never allowed any representation of Poirot to appear on book jackets.

*Her last public appearance in London was in 1974 at a banquet at Claridge's following the gala premiere of Murder on the Orient Express. In the audience for the movie was Her Majesty the Queen.

*Agatha Christie was a lifelong teetotaler and non-smoker.

*She accepted the presidency of the famous Detection Club in 1958 on the strict understanding that she would never have to make a speech.

*In Agatha Christie’s Autobiography she listed Crooked House and Ordeal By Innocence as two of her most successful books and described the book and play of And Then There Were None as “a better piece of craftsmanship than anything else [I have] written”.

*She described The Mystery of the Blue Train as "easily the worst book I ever wrote". Of her own work, her favorite play was Witness for the Prosecution, later turned into a film starring Charles Laughton and Marlene Dietrich.

*Her father used to call her Agatha-Pagatha.

*She strongly objected to being called "Aggie".

*In her teens she studied to be a classical musician but had to give it up because of stage fright.

*Agatha never went to school. She was educated at home by a succession of governesses.

*Her first book was written as a result of a bet. Her sister Madge wagered Agatha that writing a detective novel would be too difficult a task.

*She once had three plays running simultaneously in London's West End – an unrivalled feat.

*Agatha penned six romance novels under the name of Mary Westmacott. This pseudonym remained a secret for almost 20 years until her nom de plume was revealed by the Sunday Times


Agatha Christie is the most-translated fiction author in the world, according to the UNESCO. Her work has been translated into more than 70 languages. It is often said that she is outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, Agatha Christie is the best-selling fiction author of all time with an estimated two billion copies of her books in print. By comparison, around 270 million copies of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books have been sold.

Agatha Christie cited Mr Harley Quin, inspired by the Harlequin from commedia dell’arte, as one of her favourite creations.

Death Comes as the End, set in ancient Egypt, is Agatha's only attempt at historical fiction. Its genesis came from a suggestion by Egyptologist Stephen RK Glanville.

Her favorite color was green.

In an interview shortly before her death, Agatha was asked how she wanted to be remembered. "Well, I would like it to be said that I was a good writer of detective and thriller stories," was her reply.

[eadieburke]

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becke_davis wrote:

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Fricka wrote:

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becke_davis wrote:

As a matter of fact, there is an AGATHA CHRISTIE rose:



---

I THOUGHT there might be! And if there was, you would be sure to know about it! I was right on both counts, becke! So, since this is Dame Agatha's birthdate, here's a bit of trivia for the Christie aficiandos in this forum:

What book(and dramatic production based on the book) featured Poirot getting a rose named after him????

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I know this, but let's see if anyone else does...

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How Does Your Garden Grow?

[becke_davis]

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eadieburke wrote:

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becke_davis wrote:

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Fricka wrote:

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becke_davis wrote:

As a matter of fact, there is an AGATHA CHRISTIE rose:



---

I THOUGHT there might be! And if there was, you would be sure to know about it! I was right on both counts, becke! So, since this is Dame Agatha's birthdate, here's a bit of trivia for the Christie aficiandos in this forum:

What book(and dramatic production based on the book) featured Poirot getting a rose named after him????

---

I know this, but let's see if anyone else does...

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How Does Your Garden Grow?

Got it in one!

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[maxcat]

Happy Birthday to Dame Agatha! Her books will be read and reread forever.

[dulcinea3]

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becke_davis wrote:

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eadieburke wrote:

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becke_davis wrote:

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Fricka wrote:

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becke_davis wrote:

As a matter of fact, there is an AGATHA CHRISTIE rose:



---

I THOUGHT there might be! And if there was, you would be sure to know about it! I was right on both counts, becke! So, since this is Dame Agatha's birthdate, here's a bit of trivia for the Christie aficiandos in this forum:

What book(and dramatic production based on the book) featured Poirot getting a rose named after him????

---

I know this, but let's see if anyone else does...

---

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Got it in one!

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Does that have another title?  I don't recognize it.  Or is it a short story instead of a novel?

[becke_davis]

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dulcinea3 wrote:

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becke_davis wrote:

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eadieburke wrote:

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becke_davis wrote:

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Fricka wrote:

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becke_davis wrote:

As a matter of fact, there is an AGATHA CHRISTIE rose:



---

I THOUGHT there might be! And if there was, you would be sure to know about it! I was right on both counts, becke! So, since this is Dame Agatha's birthdate, here's a bit of trivia for the Christie aficiandos in this forum:

What book(and dramatic production based on the book) featured Poirot getting a rose named after him????

---

I know this, but let's see if anyone else does...

---

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Got it in one!

---



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Does that have another title?  I don't recognize it.  Or is it a short story instead of a novel?

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Poirot: Collector's Set 3  

It's a short story that was filmed as a TV episode - in fact, I'm wondering if the rose was only in the filmed episode and not in the book. I'll have to check.

The short story is in POIROT'S EARLY CASES, which is apparently out of print. Used copies are available, but not cheap. You can get it as an audiobook:

Poirot's Early Cases  

Here's the book cover:



[eadieburke]

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dulcinea3 wrote:

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becke_davis wrote:

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eadieburke wrote:

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becke_davis wrote:

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Fricka wrote:

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becke_davis wrote:

As a matter of fact, there is an AGATHA CHRISTIE rose:



---

I THOUGHT there might be! And if there was, you would be sure to know about it! I was right on both counts, becke! So, since this is Dame Agatha's birthdate, here's a bit of trivia for the Christie aficiandos in this forum:

What book(and dramatic production based on the book) featured Poirot getting a rose named after him????

---

I know this, but let's see if anyone else does...

---

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Got it in one!

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Does that have another title?  I don't recognize it.  Or is it a short story instead of a novel?

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Short Story Published in Poirot's Early Cases and The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories.

[dulcinea3]

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eadieburke wrote:

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dulcinea3 wrote:

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becke_davis wrote:

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eadieburke wrote:

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becke_davis wrote:

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Fricka wrote:

 I THOUGHT there might be! And if there was, you would be sure to know about it! I was right on both counts, becke! So, since this is Dame Agatha's birthdate, here's a bit of trivia for the Christie aficiandos in this forum:

What book(and dramatic production based on the book) featured Poirot getting a rose named after him????

---

I know this, but let's see if anyone else does...

---

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Got it in one!

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Does that have another title?  I don't recognize it.  Or is it a short story instead of a novel?

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Short Story Published in Poirot's Early Cases and The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories.

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Thanks!  I have The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories.

[becke_davis]

I found a better picture of the Zephirine Drouhin rose in my yard. Read SAD CYPRESS to find out about its Agatha Christie connection:



Sad Cypress (Hercule Poirot Series)