English author (1926?2017)
Michael Bond
|
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Bond with a Paddington Bear toy
|
Born
| Thomas Michael Bond
(
1926-01-13
)
13 January 1926
|
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Died
| 27 June 2017
(2017-06-27)
(aged 91)
London, England
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Resting place
| Paddington Old Cemetery
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Occupation
| Author
|
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Years active
| 1945?2017
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Notable work
| Paddington Bear
series
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Spouses
| -
Brenda Mary Johnson
(
m.
1950–1981)
-
Susan Marfrey Rogers
(
m.
1981)
|
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Children
| 2
|
---|
Thomas Michael Bond
CBE
(13 January 1926 ? 27 June 2017) was an English author. He is best known for a series of fictional stories for children, featuring the character of
Paddington Bear
. More than 35 million Paddington books have been sold around the world, and the characters have also appeared in a popular
film series
(featuring
Paddington
and
Paddington 2
to date) and on television. His first book was published in 1958 and his last in 2017, a span of 59 years.
Early life
[
edit
]
Thomas Michael Bond was born on 13 January 1926 in
Newbury, Berkshire
.
[1]
He was raised in
Reading
, where his visits to
Reading railway station
to watch the
Cornish Riviera Express
pass through started a love of trains. His father was a manager for the post office.
[2]
He was educated at
Presentation College
in Reading. His time there was unhappy. He told
The Guardian
in November 2014 that his parents had chosen the school "for the simple reason [that his] mother liked the colour of the blazers ... she didn't make many mistakes in life, but that was one of them". He left education aged 14, despite his parents' wishes for him to go to university.
[2]
The
Second World War
was under way and he went to work in a solicitor's office for a year, and then as an engineer's assistant for the
BBC
.
[3]
On 10 February 1943
[4]
Bond survived an air raid in Reading. The building in which he was working collapsed under him, killing 41 people and injuring many more.
[5]
[6]
Shortly afterwards he volunteered for
aircrew
service in the
Royal Air Force
as a 17-year-old, but he was discharged after being found to suffer from acute
air sickness
.
[
citation needed
]
He then served in the
Middlesex Regiment
of the
British Army
until 1947.
[7]
Author
[
edit
]
Bond began writing in 1945, when he was stationed with the Army in
Cairo
, and sold his first short story to the magazine
London Opinion
. He was paid seven
guineas
and thought that he "wouldn't mind being a writer".
[2]
After he'd produced several plays and short stories, and had become a BBC television cameraman (he worked on
Blue Peter
for a time), his first book,
A Bear Called Paddington
, was published by Collins in 1958.
Barbara Ker Wilson
had read his draft at one sitting and she then phoned Bond at the number given. She was put through to
Lime Grove Studios
. Bond had to tell her that he wasn't supposed to take calls at work.
[8]
This was the start of Bond's series of books recounting the tales of
Paddington Bear
, a bear from "darkest Peru," whose Aunt Lucy sends him to England, carrying a jar of
marmalade
. In the first book the Brown family find the bear at
Paddington Station
, and adopt him, naming the bear after the station.
[7]
By 1965 Bond was able to give up his BBC job to work full time as a writer.
[9]
Paddington's adventures have sold over 35 million books, have been published in nearly 20 countries, in over 40 languages, and have inspired pop bands, race horses, plays, hot air balloons, movies and adaptations for television.
[7]
[10]
Bond stated in December 2007 that he did not plan to continue the adventures of Paddington Bear in further volumes,
[11]
but in April 2014 it was reported that a new book, entitled
Love From Paddington
, would be published that autumn. In
Paddington
, a 2014 film based on the books, Bond had a credited cameo as the Kindly Gentleman.
[12]
Bond also wrote another series of children's books, telling of the adventures of a
guinea pig
named
Olga da Polga
, who was named after the Bond family's pet,
[2]
as well as the animated BBC television series
The Herbs
(1968).
[13]
Bond also wrote culinary mystery stories for adults, featuring
Monsieur Pamplemousse
and his faithful
bloodhound
Pommes Frites.
[3]
Bond wrote
Reflection on the Passing of the Years
shortly after his 90th birthday. The piece was read by
Sir David Attenborough
, who also turned 90 in 2016, at the national service of thanksgiving to commemorate
Queen Elizabeth II's
90th birthday at
St Paul's Cathedral
in June 2016.
[14]
On 20 June 2016
StudioCanal
acquired the Paddington franchise outright. Bond was allowed to keep the publishing rights to his series,
[15]
which he licensed in April 2017 to
HarperCollins
for the next six years.
[16]
Television writing
[
edit
]
Bond wrote two short films for the
BBC
:
Simon's Good Deed
, which was shown on 11 October 1955,
[17]
and
Napoleon's Day Out
, shown on 9 April 1957.
[18]
He also wrote one episode of the series
The World Our Stage
, an adaptation of the short story "The Decoration" by
Guy de Maupassant
, which aired on 4 January 1958.
[19]
His best known television work is as the creator and writer of the
children's television
series
The Herbs
and
The Adventures of Parsley
, again for the BBC.
[13]
[20]
Honours
[
edit
]
Bond was appointed an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
(OBE), for services to children's literature, in the
1997 Birthday Honours
[21]
[22]
and
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
(CBE) in the
2015 Birthday Honours
.
[23]
[24]
On 6 July 2007 the
University of Reading
awarded him an
Honorary
Doctor of Letters
.
[25]
On 10 January 2018
GWR
named one of their
Class 800 trains
"Michael Bond / Paddington Bear".
[26]
Personal life and death
[
edit
]
Bond was married twice: to Brenda Mary Johnson in 1950, from whom he separated in the 1970s; and to Susan Marfrey Rogers in 1981. He had two children.
[27]
He lived in London, not far from Paddington Station, the place that inspired many of his books.
[9]
[27]
Bond died in London on 27 June 2017, at the age of 91. The cause of death was not disclosed. The film
Paddington 2
(2017) was dedicated to his memory.
[1]
He is buried in
Paddington Old Cemetery
close to where he lived. The epitaph on his gravestone reads "Please look after this bear. Thank you."
In 2022, on the ITV programme
DNA Journeys
, it was discovered that Bond is a relative of the television presenter
Kate Garraway
.
[28]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
Paddington Bear series
[
edit
]
Olga da Polga series
[
edit
]
Chapter books
[
edit
]
Picture books
[
edit
]
Monsieur Pamplemousse series
[
edit
]
Other books
[
edit
]
Television
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Michael Bond, Paddington Bear Creator, Is Dead at 91
The New York Times
, 28 June 2017
- ^
a
b
c
d
Pauli, Michelle (28 November 2014).
"Michael Bond: 'Paddington stands up for things, he's not afraid of going to the top and giving them a hard stare'
"
.
The Guardian
. London
. Retrieved
3 December
2014
.
- ^
a
b
"Obituary: Michael Bond"
.
BBC News
. 28 June 2017
. Retrieved
28 June
2017
.
- ^
"Air Raid, February 1943"
.
Reading Museum
. Reading Borough Council. Archived from
the original
on 3 October 2013
. Retrieved
13 February
2012
.
- ^
Midgley, Emma (13 February 2012).
"Paddington Bear 'inspired by evacuees' says author Bond"
. BBC
. Retrieved
13 February
2012
.
- ^
"Paddington Bear writer's wartime Reading Podcast now online"
. Reading Borough Council. Archived from
the original
on 12 February 2012
. Retrieved
13 February
2012
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Paddington Bear author Michael Bond writes new book"
.
BBC News
. 9 April 2014
. Retrieved
8 April
2014
.
- ^
"Barbara Ker Wilson obituary"
.
The Times
.
ISSN
0140-0460
. Retrieved
3 December
2020
.
- ^
a
b
"Michael Bond, the creator of Paddington"
. paddington.com. Archived from
the original
on 28 June 2017
. Retrieved
28 June
2017
.
- ^
John Plunkett (22 January 2008).
"BBC celebrates 50 years of Paddington"
.
The Guardian
. London
. Retrieved
15 October
2008
.
- ^
Richard Lea (11 December 2007).
"Paddington Bear faces questions on asylum status"
.
The Guardian
. London
. Retrieved
15 October
2008
.
- ^
Lang, Kirsty (31 October 2014).
"Paddington creator Michael Bond makes cameo in new film"
. BBC.
- ^
a
b
c
"Michael Bond obituary"
.
The Guardian
. 28 June 2017.
- ^
"Attenborough to read Bond's tribute at Queen's birthday service"
.
BBC News
. 8 June 2016.
- ^
Keslassy, John Hopewell,Elsa (20 June 2016).
"Studiocanal Acquires Paddington Bear Brand, Plans Third Paddington Movie"
. Retrieved
29 June
2017
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
"HarperCollins secures six-year publishing partnership for Paddington"
. Archived from
the original
on 11 July 2017
. Retrieved
29 June
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"Listings: 11 October 1955"
.
BBC Radio Times
.
- ^
a
b
"Listings: 9 April 1957"
.
BBC Radio Times
.
- ^
a
b
"Listings: 4 January 1958"
.
BBC Radio Times
.
- ^
a
b
c
Adrian Gaster (1977).
The International Authors and Writers Who's who
. International Biographical Centre. p. 107.
ISBN
9780900332456
.
- ^
Archipelago, World.
"Michael Bond"
.
HarperCollins UK
. Archived from
the original
on 2 July 2017
. Retrieved
28 June
2017
.
- ^
"No. 54794"
.
The London Gazette
(Supplement). 13 June 1997. p. 10.
- ^
"The Queen's Birthday Honours 2015"
. Government of the United Kingdom
. Retrieved
28 June
2017
.
- ^
"Birthday Honours 2015: Van Morrison and Kevin Spacey head list"
.
BBC News
. 13 June 2015.
- ^
Malvern, David (6 July 2007).
"Oration presenting Michael Bond, OBE for the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters at a Degree Congregation, 6th July 2007"
(PDF)
. University of Reading
. Retrieved
28 June
2017
.
- ^
"Our named Intercity Express Trains"
. GWR. 10 January 2018.
- ^
a
b
Lambert, Victoria (31 August 2016).
"Paddington Bear creator Michael Bond: 'I could have pasted my room with rejection slips. But I never gave up'
"
.
The Telegraph
. Retrieved
28 June
2017
.
- ^
"Kate Garraway discovers she is related to Paddington Bear's creator"
.
ITV News
. 5 October 2022
. Retrieved
14 October
2022
.
- ^
Nicholas Lezard
(19 January 2005).
"Classic of the month: A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond"
.
The Guardian
. London
. Retrieved
15 October
2008
.
- ^
"In praise of...Paddington Bear"
.
The Guardian
. London. 2 June 2008
. Retrieved
15 October
2008
.
- ^
"Paddington's Finest Hour"
.
HarperCollins
. Archived from
the original
on 19 June 2017
. Retrieved
28 June
2017
.
- ^
Michael Bond's last Paddington Bear story out in 2018
External links
[
edit
]
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International
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National
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Academics
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Artists
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Other
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