Michael Bond, The 'Giant' Behind Paddington Bear, Dies At 91
"Mr. and Mrs. Brown first met Paddington on a railway platform" — and readers first met Paddington with those words in 1958. Bond, who died Tuesday, turned that bear into an unforgettable friend.
It all began rather simply.
"Mr. and Mrs. Brown first met Paddington on a railway platform," goes the opening line in the opening book of Michael Bond's Paddington Bear series. Readers, for their part, first met the orphan bear from Peru in 1958, in the pages of A Bear Named Paddington.
Bond died at home after. But that beloved bear of his, which has endured nearly six decades, promises to live on much longer — not only in books but also in the toy stores and screens, both big and small, that Paddington has graced since his introduction.
