I still remember my first romantic love book from Mills and Boon “Slender Threadâ€. Every girl at some point of her youth must have had read Mills and Boon. Mills and Boon – Bring Romance To Life.
Mills & Boon writer Ida Pollock, The world’s oldest author has died aged 105 – just weeks before the publication of her 125th novel. She was still having ideas for a romantic novel. She has earned her place in history and in hearts of people who loved her for her expressive love and steamy romantic ideas.
The Romantic Novelists’ Association, which was co-founded by Ms Pollock, and which awarded her the title of honorary vice-president, confirmed her death.
Born in Lewisham, south London, she finished her first book at the age of 14. In the 1930s she decided to become a full-time author, penning a string of hits using the name Joan Allen. By 1956 she had published eight romances under five pen names – each around 70,000 words long.
Many of her dashing male heroes were modelled on her late husband Colonel Hugh Pollock, a decorated veteran who was previously married to Enid Blyton.
Earlier this year Ida said in an interview: ‘A romance is never just a romance, there’s adventure, mystery and movement.’
With her advancing years, Ida stopped using a typewriter and instead dictated her racy tales to daughter Rosemary at their remote country home in Lanreath near Looe, Cornwall. Rosemary 70, said her mother was a ‘national treasure’. ‘Again and again, readers would write to say she’d cheered them up. Her books were more than happy endings, they were full of life, energy and optimism.’
“A Distant Drum†Ida’s most recent novel, in which a young Fanny Templeton falls for the Marquis of Ordley after clashing at the battle of Waterloo, came out in 2005. Her memoirs, Starlight, were published in 2009 and her most recent works are two more Regency romances, including her latest, The Runaway, which will be published in 2014. The Runaway is the story of a young woman who inherits a vast fortune and is forced to flee to escape several suitors.
Ida said in an interview in April this year: ‘I think I was born to write. My mother would put a typewriter on the dining room table and say "there you go". My first story was published in the Christian Herald and they would pay me five guineas. I wrote my first novel when I was just 14. I was into mysteries and thrillers at the time but I eventually I drifted into romance because my mother would always ask me to write "something pretty". I’ve never got bored of it because it’s something I absolutely love. My books are full of hope and romance rather than sex. They are a form of escapism – you can escape the parts of the world that you don’t like.’
Rest In Peace!
