Hubba-hubba, Agatha Christie was a secret beach bunny!
Agatha Christie is one of the most widely-read mystery authors to ever pick up a pen and paper. While much of her life is known, there’s a lot of hidden facets to this peculiarly British gem that have been left undiscovered. For example, there’s the mystery of those 11 missing days in which Ms. Christie disappeared from her home and was discovered miles away in a hotel, checked in under an assumed name. As it turns out, ol’ Aggie had a fun side, too: Agatha Christie and her first husband Archie were among the first Britons to surf standing up.
Agatha and Archie learned surfing while traveling the world to promote the British Empire Exhibition of 1924. Among her stops were Cape Town, South Africa, where she saw surfing for the first time, and Hawaii, where she learned how to hang ten from the Big Kahuna himself (or some random surfing mice). It goes without saying that the Christies were hooked, with Agatha donning a precursor to today’s wetsuit, and even donning leather boots to protect her feet from sharp coral! As it turns out, she was in good company as a surfer in 1922, if by good company you mean royal company.
“In the early 1920s very few British people were surfing and the only one we know about earlier than her, standing up, was Prince Edward,” added Mr. Robinson, thereby cementing the fact that Agatha Christie was one of the coolest people in the entire world.
Tags: Agatha Christie, Prince Edward, first surfer in Britain, Archie Christie, Agatha Christie surfer, Agatha Christie surfing, Pete Robinson, surfing, famous surfers, authors, Museum of British Surfing, Devon, England, unusual hobbies, surfers
