Anthony Arthur Barber, known as Tony Barber (born 3 December 1942) is an English-born author, singer-songwriter,inventor, artist, papercrafter and soft toy designer who emigrated to Australia in 1963.

Biography

He was a member of the band

Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs were an Australian rock band formed in Sydney, New South Wales. The group enjoyed success in the mid-1960s, but split in 1967. They re-emerged in the early 1970s to become one of the most popular Australian hard-ro ...

in the 1960s. Subsequently performing as a solo artist, his biggest hit was "Someday" (Aust #13/1966). He wrote 35 children's books in the 1980s under the names A. A. Barber and Tony Barber, including The Puggle Tales. He appeared on the children's television show ''The Music Shop'' as Tony the Toymaker. Many of his books feature a fantasy character he created and named "Puggle", for which he also designed a

stuffed toy A stuffed toy is a toy doll with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, stuffed animals, and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be c ...

of the same name that gained popularity and that was then used to name a baby echidna. Barber founded The Lost Forests chain of toy stores, which sold soft toys that he designed.Brown, Jenny. (19 July 1991).
Making Sales from an Unlikely Story
, ''

Australian Financial Review ''The Australian Financial Review'' (abbreviated to the ''AFR'') is an Australian business-focused, compact daily newspaper covering the current business and economic affairs of Australia and the world. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New S ...

''. Retrieved 7 July 2020.

References

External links

ARTristic
Australian site

North American site 1942 births Living people English emigrants to Australia Australian musicians Australian children's writers Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs members {{Australia-musician-stub