Flavorwire

Whether it’s because of the jocks vs. brains dichotomy or the idea that literary folks are fragile artists, we’re always surprised to find out that a renowned author also excelled as an athlete. That, perhaps, is why we were so intrigued when the archivists at How to Be a Retronaut posted  a photo of none other than Agatha Christie snuggling up to a surfboard. Out of curiosity, we started Googling to see which of our other favorite authors have been caught on film playing a sport. In the gallery after the jump, you’ll see Jack Kerouac killing it on the football field, Simone de Beauvoir shooting a gun, Norman Mailer arm wrestling Muhammad Ali, and — what we consider to be our prize find — a young Virginia Woolf playing cricket.

Agatha Christie, one of the first Brits to surf, on Waikiki beach in 1922