![]() Honey and his self-composed ditties, almost a hundred years ago, and has Winnie-the-Pooh arrived in the national consciousness, with his pots of The British seem particularly susceptible to fictionalized bears. Who died this week at the age of ninety-one. The name now belongs, ofĬourse, to Paddington Bear, the enduring and beloved creation of Bond, Ruled by a now-forgotten chief named Padda. Most likely is of Anglo-Saxon origin, referring to a geographical area Precise etymology of the place name Paddington is obscure, though it Is situated, a settlement dating back more than a thousand years. Paddington Station-which connects WalesĪnd western England with London-is named for the area of London where it When Michael Bond, a BBC cameraman and part-time writer,Ĭonceived of a story, in the late nineteen-fifties, in which a smallīear from South America arrived in London, he chose Paddington StationĪs the place where the creature would be found, and thence adopted, byĪn English family, the Browns. Three-Quarters-the location at King’s Cross station where students boundįor Hogwarts depart by marching full tilt at a wall-another children’sĪuthor had imbued another major London railway station with perpetual Rowling’s exhilarating invention, twenty years ago, of Platform Nine and Paddington was so real to them that the bear was seen as a member of their family and “an extension of my father, which means he will always be with us,” she said.In the figure of Paddington Bear, Michael Bond, who died this week, depicted the struggles that a new arrival to any land faces. His daughter, Karen Jankel, described her father as a “master of one-liners”, who could see the humour in any situation and had “a twinkle in his eye”. Paul's, and was published on 27 June 2018, one year after Bond's death. This adventure is called Paddington at St. Michael Bond is still sadly missed since he died in 2017 June, but he left us a present - one last adventure for Paddington Bear. Michael has twice been recognised for his services to children's literature: in 1997 Michael Bond was awarded an OBE and in 2002 he was honoured in an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London, celebrating a century of childrens authors. Bears don't need much encouragement, and Paddington has since filled the pages of fourteen novels, a variety of picture books, and many other projects written for the young at heart of all ages. Bought as a ‘stocking filler’ for his first wife, Brenda, it was to act as the inspiration for A Bear Called Paddington, first published 13 October 1958. He was taking refuge in Selfridges when he came across a small toy bear, literally left on the shelf. The inspiration for his most famous creation came one snowy Christmas Eve. Its acceptance by London Opinion sowed the seeds of a future career, but before becoming a full-time writer he was to spend many happy and fruitful years as a BBC television cameraman. During the war he served with both the RAF and the army, and it was in 1947, while stationed in Cairo, that he wrote his first short story. On leaving school at the age of fourteen, he spent a year in a lawyers' office before joining the BBC as an engineer. ![]() ![]() ![]() After ten days I found that I had a book on my hands.“ Īuthor of over one hundred books, Michael Bond was born in Newbury, Berkshire, in 1926 and grew up in Reading. I wrote some stories about the bear, more for fun than with the idea of having them published. I took it home as a present for my wife Brenda, and named it Paddington, as we were living near Paddington Station at the time. “I saw it left on a shelf in a London store, and felt sorry for it. A Bear Called Paddington (1958) “It all began when I bought a small toy bear on Christmas Eve 1956,” he recalls. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |