The Proposed Biography of Eric Knight by Greg Christie MA

Eric Knight

Here are two new stories to catch the imagination …… of course, you’ve all heard the tale of Lassie - who hasn’t? But the man who created the world’s most enduring film, TV and literary heroine, lived an incredibly romantic and courageous life and rose from poverty in the backstreets of industrial Leeds, Yorkshire to become one of the most significant and highly respected authors of his generation. Yet his story lay undiscovered for over fifty years until another Yorkshire lad happened upon it in the most extraordinary circumstances ....

And HERE is the story of the story-teller, of a life-threatening injury, hospitalisation and the get-well gift of a book, which propelled its reader to over twelve years of dogged research, Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Literature and hopefully, in the very near future, the biography of one of England’s, and Yorkshire’s, finest – ERIC KNIGHT.

Greg Christie

A few facts about Eric Knight

Eric was first and foremost a story teller, a tall story teller with a keen sense of humour, one who would entertain any crowd with his Sam Small adventures, be they gathered in a downtown New York bar or around a log fire in a Yorkshire pub.

He taught himself to play the piano accordian and needed no encouragement to hammer out a tune.

He learned to ride in the army during World War One and remained a keen and expert horseman – and once even took a horse in payment for a Hollywood script treatment.

He was a Philadelphia newspaperman and worked in Hollywood but soon went back East, "where the climate and the land better suited a Yorkshire lad".

He was a farmer too, with a splendid ten acres in Pennsylvania.

His constant companion was his cross-collie, Toots, she it was who inspired her master to the great leaps of imagination which would lead to the creation of Lassie.

When Eric joined the US Army in 1942 it was as a Captain, but he was soon Major Knight. Tragically, he was killed on active service in 1943 en-route to North Africa when his ‘plane crashed, leaving

behind his beautiful wife Jere, three daughters from his previous marriage, and a legacy of outstanding authorship.

Eric created Lassie. She is known and loved the world over, millions of kids have grown up with her, she is part of our lives and her adventures still enthral readers today. The story of the man who gave us the world’s most enduring literary icon is every bit as thrilling.