Author of Return to the Hundred Acre Wood Speaks at Brunswick
David Benedictus, the author of the sequel to the Winnie the Pooh books, Return to the Hundred Acre Wood, spoke at an Upper School assembly in January. His comments were an interesting combination of insight into boarding school life in England, commentary on being an author, and the background on writing the above book. He is a colorful personality and a somewhat irreverent character whose assembly presentation was well received by the boys. Mr. Benedictus came to Brunswick through John Pendergast. Mr. Pendergast is the Director of the Oxford Prep Experience at Corpus Christi College in England and Mr. Benedictus teaches Creative Writing in this summer program. (Check out this wonderful summer opportunity at http://www.oxbridgeprograms.com/oxford_prep/index.php
Mr. Benedictus opened his remarks noting the differences between Brunswick, his impression of American hi
gh schools – derived from the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – and his school experience at Eaton. He talked about “inventive bullying” and the “fagging” system (a student’s “fag” was in effect his servant) at Eaton. Bullying took on bizarre forms at Eaton, such as calling out to a Catholic student DWPPXII, which stood for down with Pope Pius XII, every time the Catholic student passed by, to flicking butter up on the ceiling of a student’s room where it would mold and create quite a smell! Mr. Benedictus had two fags, one of whom is now a powerful Lord in the Conservative Party and the other is in jail for lying about a Middle East arms deals! He then talked about his teachers at Eaton and how they were docked pay if they were late for class. He related the story of one man who had lost a leg and an eye in World War II and sometimes came to class missing parts because he did not want to be late!! He told stories of a teacher who was crazy from having been lost on the Matterhorn and another who always looked for synonyms for words which he could not pronounce due to a stammer. He suggested that all teachers are somewhat weird but that students should remember that they were all students, once upon a time.
gh schools – derived from the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – and his school experience at Eaton. He talked about “inventive bullying” and the “fagging” system (a student’s “fag” was in effect his servant) at Eaton. Bullying took on bizarre forms at Eaton, such as calling out to a Catholic student DWPPXII, which stood for down with Pope Pius XII, every time the Catholic student passed by, to flicking butter up on the ceiling of a student’s room where it would mold and create quite a smell! Mr. Benedictus had two fags, one of whom is now a powerful Lord in the Conservative Party and the other is in jail for lying about a Middle East arms deals! He then talked about his teachers at Eaton and how they were docked pay if they were late for class. He related the story of one man who had lost a leg and an eye in World War II and sometimes came to class missing parts because he did not want to be late!! He told stories of a teacher who was crazy from having been lost on the Matterhorn and another who always looked for synonyms for words which he could not pronounce due to a stammer. He suggested that all teachers are somewhat weird but that students should remember that they were all students, once upon a time.After these stories of his Eaton days, talking of loneliness and bullying both of which were salved by reading, he transitioned into a discussion about being an author and more specifically writing A Return to the Hundred Acre Wood. He mentioned that many books are written and then vanish without a trace but every once in a while an author gets it right. That is how he characterized the success he has had with this Winnie the Pooh sequel. It has made him, as his daughter told him, just a little bit famous. Mr. Benedictus approached A.A. Milne’s estate many years ago with the suggestion to write a sequel, feeling that he could write in that same voice as the original author. He waited eight years for a positive reply. He would enjoy writing further Pooh stories but fears that it would take another eight years for the next level of permission! He read several pages from Chapter 2 of the book and there were nods of recognition at the style and chuckles of delight. The author indicated that he knew it would go over well with his audience when he himself chuckled on rereading a piece.
Questions from the audience were largely about what life is like being an author. He talked about the punishment for not writing or the rewards for doing so. He mentioned that if he were to write 500 words a day he would have a novel in six months – not bad he commented. He deals with writers block by continuing to write, saying that writers block is merely an excuse and that you can trash anything after you write it so there should be no excuse for not writing. As for his research prior to starting to write A Return to the Hundred Acre Wood, yes, he did go to that area of England which is on the border of Sussex, but his real research came in the form of reading EVERYTHING A.A. Milne ever wrote. Mr. Benedictus said that when he imagined he could be A.A.Milne, then he knew he was ready to write the sequel to the Pooh books in Mr. Milne’s voice.
As Mr. Benedictus spoke John Pendergast watched him with a knowing smile. The author revealed a bit of his personality and colorful view of life but clearly, from Mr. Pendergast’s reaction, he barely scratched the surface. It is certain that there are hours of stories behind the brief overview. Many thanks go to John Pendergast for bringing this author to Brunswick.
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