Polly Samson

Polly Samson (born 29 April 1962) is an English novelist, lyricist, and journalist. She is married to musician David Gilmour and has written the lyrics to many of Gilmour's works, both as a solo artist and with the group Pink Floyd. Samson's father was Lance Samson (died 4 February 2013), a newspaper editor and diplomatic correspondent for the Morning Star. Her mother was a writer of Chinese descent, Esther Cheo Ying, who wrote a memoir, Black Country to Red China, about her time serving as a Major in Mao Zedong's Red Army. Samson's mother's second husband was the famous British journalist Alan Winnington. Following a troubled childhood, Samson joined the publishing industry, through which she met the writer Heathcote Williams with whom she became romantically involved during the publication of his Whale Nation, Samson being responsible for publicising what she succeeded in turning into a best-selling volume despite its author's reluctance to promote his work. With Williams she had her first son, Charlie. Following his birth, Samson became homeless and was taken in for a period by the journalist Cassandra Jardine.