Christopher Robin Milne, 75; Inspiration For Winnie-The-Pooh

LONDON - Christopher Robin Milne, immortalized as the young friend of Winnie-the-Pooh in the children's stories of his father, A.A. Milne, has died. He died Saturday at 75.

In 1924, Alan Alexander Milne, already well-known for his light hand at literature and fiction, published a book of verse, "When We Were Very Young," inspired by 4-year-old Christopher. His son's affection for a bear named Winnie at the London Zoo became the model of hugely successful children's books - "Winnie-the-Pooh" (1926), "Now We are Six" (1927), and "The House at Pooh Corner" (1928). The stories were later brought to film by Disney.

In photographs, it was clear how closely A.A. Milne modeled the fictional Christopher Robin on his son: the same wide, inquisitive brown eyes, the same carefully cropped mop top, the same gingham smock.

His father died in 1956, and Mr. Milne, a bookseller, remained silent about the effect of the series' immense popularity on his life until 1974, when he published "The Enchanted Places." It was followed by "The Path Through the Trees" in 1979 and "The Hollow on the Hill" in 1982.

Mr. Milne described his father as a man who used his small son's youth to stave off his own middle age.

"When I was 3, my father was 3. When I was 6, he was 6 . . . he needed me to escape from being 50," he wrote.

He also resented the confusing of his childhood with popular legend: He could not remember whether it was the real or fictional

Christopher Robin who invented the game of "pooh-sticks," dropping sticks from a wooden bridge into a flowing stream.

Nonetheless, he was not averse to exploiting his name when he thought the cause was worthy: He backed campaigns against deforestation, and, when asked to autograph Pooh books, he requested donations to his favorite charity, Save the Children.