Sad news today. Michael Bond, who is the creator of popular and beloved Paddington Bear, has passed away. He was 91 years old. The news was confirmed by his publisher HarperCollins.
Bond was born on January 13th, 1926 and began his career as a cameraman for the BBC. One way in 1956 he was walking home and went by a store at Paddington Station in London. He lived close by with his wife.
There he saw a lonely teddy bear in the window. It was Christmas Eve and Bond decided to buy it. He named the bear Paddington and liked it so much, he thought of a story for him.
Two years later Bond was ready with his first book about Paddington. The story of the bear is a bit sad. Paddington turns out from Peru, but winds up abandoned at the famous London station where the Brown family finds him and takes him in. Over the years Bond has sold more than 35 million copies worldwide in 40 languages.
Over the years Bond has written about 150 books. Around 26 of them are for Paddington’s adventures. Today Paddington is a symbol of compassion for Project Paddington.
Before that Bond served in the Royal Air Force and the British Army during the Second World War. While in Cairo with the army, he began to write short stories.
Bond’s passing away means the end for Paddington’s adventures, too. In 2014 he said he was taking legal action to prevent sequels after his death. It tells you how close Bond feels to Paddington and how he doesn’t want a sequel by someone else to potentially tarnish the legacy of the polite and well-mannered bear.
If you’re in London and want to pay a small tribute, you can do that at Paddington Bear’s statute. It’s at the Paddington Station in London.
