Thomas Michael Bond (13 January 1926 – 27 June 2017) was a British author. He is best known for a series of fictional stories for children, featuring the character of

Paddington Bear Paddington Bear is a fictional character in children's literature. He first appeared on 13 October 1958 in the children's book ''A Bear Called Paddington'' and has been featured in more than twenty books written by British author Michael Bond, a ...

. More than 35 million Paddington books have been sold around the world, and the characters have also appeared in a popular

film series A film series or movie series (also referred to as a film franchise or movie franchise) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. This article explains what film series are ...

(featuring ''

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...

'' and ''

Paddington 2 ''Paddington 2'' is a 2017 live-action animated comedy film directed by Paul King and written by King and Simon Farnaby. Based on the stories of Paddington Bear, created by Michael Bond (to whom the film is also dedicated, Bond having died ...

'' to date) and on television. His first book was published in 1958 and his last in 2017, a span of 59 years.

Early life

Thomas Michael Bond was born on 13 January 1926 in

Newbury, Berkshire Newbury is a market town in the county of Berkshire, England, and is home to the administrative headquarters of West Berkshire Council. The town centre around its large market square retains a rare medieval Cloth Hall, an adjoining half timber ...

. He was raised in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

, where his visits to

Reading railway station Reading railway station is a major transport hub in Reading, Berkshire, England. It is on the northern edge of the town centre, near the main retail and commercial areas and the River Thames, from . Reading is the ninth-busiest station in t ...

to watch the ''

Cornish Riviera Express The ''Cornish Riviera Express'' is a British express passenger train that has run between London Paddington and Penzance in Cornwall since 1904. Introduced by the Great Western Railway, the name ''Cornish Riviera Express'' has been applied to ...

'' pass through started a love of trains. His father was a manager for the post office. He was educated at Presentation College in Reading. His time there was unhappy. He told ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' in November 2014 that his parents had chosen the school "for the simple reason

hat his A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mech ...

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. The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

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. On 10 February 1943 Bond survived an air raid in Reading. The building in which he was working collapsed under him, killing 41 people and injuring many more. Shortly afterwards he volunteered for

aircrew Aircrew, also called flight crew, are personnel who operate an aircraft while in flight. The composition of a flight's crew depends on the type of aircraft, plus the flight's duration and purpose. Commercial aviation Flight deck positions ...

service in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

as a 17-year-old, but he was discharged after being found to suffer from acute

air sickness Airsickness is a specific form of motion sickness which is induced by air travel and is considered a normal response in healthy individuals. Airsickness occurs when the central nervous system receives conflicting messages from the body (including ...

. He then served in the

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers R ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

until 1947.

Author

Michael Bond, Saint Mary's Square, Paddington

Bond began writing in 1945, when he was stationed with the Army in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...

, and sold his first short story to the magazine ''

London Opinion ''London Opinion and Today'', often known as ''London Opinion'', was a British magazine published from 1903 until 1954, when it was merged with Pearson's '' Men Only''. It ran weekly from 26 December 1903 to 27 June 1931, and was then published m ...

''. He was paid seven

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

and thought that he "wouldn't mind being a writer". After he had produced several plays and short stories, and had become a BBC television cameraman (he worked on ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Te ...

'' for a time), his first book, ''A Bear Called Paddington'', was published by Collins in 1958.

Barbara Ker Wilson Barbara Ker Wilson (24 September 1929 – 10 September 2020) was an English-born Australian novelist. She is credited as the person who "discovered" Paddington Bear. She wrote over twenty books and collated collections of stories. She gained awar ...

had read his draft at one sitting and she then phoned Bond at the number given. She was put through to

Lime Grove Studios Lime Grove Studios was a film, and later television, studio complex in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The complex was built by the Gaumont Film Company in 1915. It was situated in Lime Grove, a residential street in Shepherd's Bush, a ...

. Bond had to tell her that he was not supposed to take calls at work. This was the start of Bond's series of books recounting the tales of

, a bear from "darkest Peru," whose Aunt Lucy sends him to England, carrying a jar of

marmalade Marmalade is a fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water. The well-known version is made from bitter orange. It is also made from lemons, limes, grapefruits, mandarins, sweet oranges, bergamot ...

. In the first book the Brown family find the bear at

Paddington Station Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great ...

, and adopt him, naming the bear after the station. By 1965 Bond was able to give up his BBC job to work full time as a writer. Paddington's adventures have sold over 35 million books, have been published in nearly twenty countries, in over forty languages, and have inspired pop bands, race horses, plays, hot air balloons, a movie and adaptations for television. Bond stated in December 2007 that he did not plan to continue the adventures of Paddington Bear in further volumes, but in April 2014 it was reported that a new book, entitled ''Love From Paddington'', would be published that autumn. In ''

'', a 2014 film based on the books, Bond had a credited cameo as the Kindly Gentleman. Bond also wrote another series of children's books, telling of the adventures of a

guinea pig The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus '' Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ...

named Olga da Polga, who was named after the Bond family's pet, as well as the animated BBC television series ''

The Herbs ''The Herbs'' is a television series for young children made for the BBC by Graham Clutterbuck's FilmFair company. It was written by Michael Bond (creator of Paddington Bear), directed by Ivor Wood using 3D stop motion model animation and f ...

'' (1968). Bond also wrote culinary mystery stories for adults, featuring Monsieur Pamplemousse and his faithful

bloodhound The bloodhound is a large scent hound, originally bred for hunting deer, wild boar and, since the Middle Ages, for tracking people. Believed to be descended from hounds once kept at the Abbey of Saint-Hubert, Belgium, in French it is called, ...

Pommes Frites. Bond wrote ''Reflection on the Passing of the Years'' shortly after his 90th birthday. The piece was read by

Sir David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...

, who also turned 90 in 2016, at the national service of thanksgiving to commemorate

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

's 90th birthday at

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London ...

in June 2016. On 20 June 2016

StudioCanal StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., Canal+ Production, and Canal+ Image and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film production and distribution company that owns ...

acquired the Paddington franchise outright. Bond was allowed to keep the publishing rights to his series, which he licensed in April 2017 to

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...

for the next six years.

Television writing

Bond wrote two short films for the BBC: ''Simon's Good Deed'', which was shown on 11 October 1955, and ''Napoleon's Day Out'', shown on 9 April 1957. He also wrote one episode of the series ''The World Our Stage'', an adaptation of the short story "The Decoration" by

Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...

, which aired on 4 January 1958. His best known television work is as the creator and writer of the

children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

series ''

'' and '' The Adventures of Parsley'', again for the BBC.

Honours

Bond was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE), for services to children's literature, in the 1997 Birthday Honours and

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the

2015 Birthday Honours The 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as ...

. On 6 July 2007 the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

awarded him an Honorary

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Docto ...

. On 10 January 2018 GWR named one of their Class 800 trains "Michael Bond / Paddington Bear".

Personal life and death

Michael Bond Passed Away Paddington Bear Statue

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. He lived in London, not far from Paddington Station, the place that inspired many of his books. Bond died in London on 27 June 2017, at the age of 91. The cause of death has not been disclosed. The film ''

'' (2017) was dedicated to his memory.Michael Bond, Paddington Bear Creator, Is Dead at 91
''The New York Times'', 28 June 2017 He is buried in

Paddington Old Cemetery Paddington Old Cemetery is a civic cemetery that opened in 1855. It is located in Willesden Lane, Kilburn, in the London Borough of Brent. It is also known as Paddington Cemetery or Willesden Lane Cemetery. It is Grade II listed, Entry Number:10 ...

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.

Bibliography

Paddington Bear series

* 1958 ''A Bear Called Paddington''. London: Collins. * 1959 ''More About Paddington''. London: Collins. * 1960 ''Paddington Helps Out''. London: Collins. * 1961 ''Paddington Abroad''. London: Collins. * 1962 ''Paddington at Large''. London: Collins. * 1964 ''Paddington Marches On''. London: Collins. * 1966 ''Paddington at Work''. London: Collins. * 1968 ''Paddington Goes to Town''. London: Collins. * 1970 ''Paddington Takes the Air''. London: Collins. * 1972 ''Paddington's Garden''. London: Collins. * 1973 ''Paddington's Blue Peter Story Book'' (sometimes titled as ''Paddington Takes to TV''). London: Collins. * 1974 ''Paddington on Top''. London: Collins. * 1975 ''Paddington at the Tower''. London: Collins. * 1979 ''Paddington Takes the Test''. London: Collins. * 1980 ''Paddington on Screen''. London: Collins. * 1984 ''Paddington at the Zoo''. London: Collins. * 1986 ''Paddington at the Palace''. New York: Putnam. * 1987 ''Paddington's Busy Day''. London: Collins. * 1992 ''A Day by the Sea'' * 2001 ''Paddington in the Garden''. London: Collins. * 2003 ''Paddington and the Grand Tour''. London: Collins. * 2008 ''Paddington Rules the Waves''. New York: HarperCollins. * 2008 ''Paddington Here and Now''. New York: HarperCollins. * 2012 ''Paddington Races Ahead''. New York: HarperCollins. * 2012 ''Paddington Goes for Gold''. New York: HarperCollins. * 2014 ''Love From Paddington''. New York: HarperCollins. * 2017 ''Paddington's Finest Hour''. New York: HarperCollins. * 2018: ''Paddington at St Paul's''. New York: HarperCollins.Michael Bond's last Paddington Bear story out in 2018
/ref> * 2018: ''Paddington Turns Detective and Other Funny Stories''.

Olga da Polga series

Chapter books

* 1971 ''The Tales of Olga da Polga''. * 1973 ''Olga Meets Her Match''. * 1976 ''Olga Carries On''. * 1982 ''Olga Takes Charge''. * 1987 ''The Complete Adventures of Olga Da Polga'' (omnibus). * 1993 ''The Adventures of Olga Da Polga'' (omnibus). * 2001 ''Olga Moves House''. * 2002 ''Olga Follows Her Nose''. * 2002 ''The Best of Olga Da Polga'' (omnibus).

Picture books

* 1975 ''Olga Counts Her Blessings''. * 1975 ''Olga Makes a Friend''. * 1975 ''Olga Makes a Wish''. * 1975 ''Olga Makes Her Mark''. * 1975 ''Olga Takes a Bite''. * 1975 ''Olga's New Home''. * 1975 ''Olga's Second House''. * 1975 ''Olga's Special Day''. * 1983 ''The First Big Olga da Polga Book'' (omnibus). * 1983 ''The Second Big Olga da Polga Book'' (omnibus).

Monsieur Pamplemousse series

* 1983 ''Monsieur Pamplemousse''. * 1985 ''Monsieur Pamplemousse and the Secret Mission''. * 1986 ''Monsieur Pamplemousse on the Spot''. * 1987 ''Monsieur Pamplemousse Takes the Cure''. * 1989 ''Monsieur Pamplemousse Aloft''. * 1990 ''Monsieur Pamplemousse Investigates''. * 1991 ''Monsieur Pamplemousse Rests His Case''. * 1992 ''Monsieur Pamplemousse Stands Firm''. * 1992 ''Monsieur Pamplemousse on Location''. * 1993 ''Monsieur Pamplemousse Takes the Train''. * 1998 ''Monsieur Pamplemousse Omnibus Volume One''. * 1999 ''Monsieur Pamplemousse Omnibus Volume Two''. * 1999 ''Monsieur Pamplemousse Afloat''. * 1999 ''Monsieur Pamplemousse Omnibus Volume Three''. * 2000 ''Monsieur Pamplemousse on Probation''. * 2002 ''Monsieur Pamplemousse on Vacation''. * 2003 ''Monsieur Pamplemousse Hits the Headlines''. * 2006 ''Monsieur Pamplemousse and the Militant Midwives''. * 2007 ''Monsieur Pamplemousse and the French Solution''. * 2011 ''Monsieur Pamplemousse and the Carbon Footprint''. * 2015 ''Monsieur Pamplemousse and the Tangled Web''.

Other books

* 1966 ''Here Comes Thursday''. * 1968 ''Thursday Rides Again''. * 1969 ''Thursday Ahoy!'' * 1971 ''Thursday in Paris''. * 1971 ''Michael Bond's Book of Bears'' (editor). * 1972 ''The Day the Animals Went on Strike''. * 1975 ''Windmill''. * 1975 ''How to Make Flying Things'' (nonfiction). * 1975 ''Mr. Cram's Magic Bubbles'' (picture book). * 1980 ''Picnic on the River''. * 1980 ''J. D. Polson and the Liberty Head Dime''. * 1981 ''J. D. Polson and the Dillogate Affair''. * 1983 ''The Caravan Puppets''. * 1986 ''Oliver the Greedy Elephant'' (picture book with Paul Parnes). * 1987 ''The Pleasures of Paris'' (guidebook). * 1988 ''A Mouse Called Thursday'' (omnibus). * 1992 ''Something Nasty in the Kitchen'' (picture book). * 1996 ''Bears and Forebears: A Life So Far'' (autobiography).

Television

* 1955 ''Simon's Good Deed'' (short film) * 1957 ''Napoleon's Day Out'' (short film) * 1958 ''The World Our Stage'' (one episode, "The Decoration") * 1968 ''

'' (13 episodes) * 1970–71 '' The Adventures of Parsley'' (32 episodes)

References

External links

Paddington Bear – The Official Website

The Herbs

Interview British Entertainment History Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Bond, Michael 1926 births 2017 deaths Military personnel from Berkshire English children's writers People from Newbury, Berkshire People educated at Elvian School Paddington Bear writers from Reading, Berkshire Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Middlesex Regiment soldiers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English autobiographers English male novelists 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English novelists 21st-century English male writers Royal Air Force airmen