An former oilman and RAF pilot, who launched his famed literary career with an autobiographical account of a bi-plane crash, named which of his fictional characters after a noted Derby winner?

queproblema

Well, I have a feeling this is Roald Dahl, but I'll leave it to someone else to figure out the Derby winner. Epsom Derby, I presume. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_Dahl Oct 23 09, 10:51 PM

JaneofGaunt

The horse was Fifinella! Author Roald Dahl, born the year of Fifinella's great racing successes, used her name for his female characters in his 1943 book, The Gremlins. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifinella_%28horse%29 Oct 23 09, 11:05 PM

Verbonica

Roald Dahl. In July 1934, Dahl joined the Shell Petroleum Company. Following two years of training in the UK, he was transferred to Dar-es-Salaam, Tanganyika (now Tanzania). Along with the only two other Shell employees in the entire territory, he lived in luxury in the Shell House outside Dar-es-Salaam, with a cook and personal servants. In November 1939, Dahl joined the Royal Air Force. He was assigned to No. 80 Squadron RAF, flying obsolete Gloster Gladiators, the last biplane fighter plane used by the RAF. In September 1940 his plane crashed in Libya and he suffered several injuries. His first published work, in the 1 August 1942 issue of The Saturday Evening Post was "Shot Down Over Libya", describing the crash of his Gloster Gladiator. The female gremlins called fifinellas, characters in "The Gremlins," were named for the great "flying" filly racehorse Fifinella, who won both the Epsom Derby and Epsom Oaks in 1916, the year Dahl was born. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_Dahl http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gremlins http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifinella_(horse) Oct 23 09, 11:47 PM

Verbonica

Ack! I forgot to look back here for responses while I searched... Oct 23 09, 11:48 PM