Polly Samson

Polly Samson, journalist and writer, was born in London in 1962 to a diplomatic correspondent father and a writer mother of Chinese descent (mother, Esther Cheo Ying, wrote a memoir "Black Country Girl In Red China", about her time serving as a Major in Mao Zedong's Red Army) . Following a troubled childhood, she joined the publishing industry, through which she met the writer Heathcote Williams, with whom she had her first son, Charlie. Following their split, Polly Samson met Pink Floyd singer and guitarist David Gilmour. They married in 1994 during Pink Floyd's Division Bell tour. They have had a further three children named Joe Gilmour, Gabriel Gilmour and Romany Gilmour and currently live in West Sussex. She continues to collaborate with Gilmour on several of his songs, primarily in a lyrical capacity. She has also written short stories for BBC Radio 4 and has had a collection published "Lying In Bed" (Virago 1999) and a novel, "Out Of The Picture" (Virago 2000), as well as contributing pieces and stories to many other books and publications including "Gas and Air" (Bloomsbury 2003), "Girls Night In" (Harper Collins 2000), "A Day In The Life" (Black Swan 2003).

Samson is credited as a co-writer on six of "The Division Bell"'s eleven tracks. She is the only female co-writer of any Pink Floyd songs (unless one counts Clare Torry's contributions to "Great Gig in the Sky", which were recognized by a British court in a suit brought by her against Pink Floyd).

She makes a guest appearance, on piano and vocals, on Gilmour's 2006 album, "On an Island".

Bibliography

*"Lying in Bed" - Virago Press Ltd, Pub: 4 May 2000. ISBN 1-8604-9667-9
*"Out of the Picture" - Virago Press Ltd, Pub: 5 April 2001. ISBN 1-8604-9864-7