Michael Bond
Michael Bond was a British author best known for creating the beloved character Paddington Bear. Born on January 13, 1926, in Newbury, Berkshire, he enjoyed a happy childhood filled with reading and exploration. Bond's literary journey began during his service in the British Army, where he wrote a short story that marked the start of his writing career. His most notable work, "A Bear Called Paddington," was published in 1958 and inspired a successful series of children's books that resonated with both young readers and adults. Bond's writing style was characterized by humor and relatable situations, which contributed to the widespread appeal of his stories. Throughout his career, he also created other characters, including Monsieur Pamplemousse, and collaborated with his daughter on Paddington books. Bond received several accolades for his contributions to children's literature, including being named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He passed away on June 27, 2017, leaving behind a rich legacy that continues to enchant audiences worldwide. His works have been translated into around thirty languages and have sold over thirty million copies globally.
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Michael Bond
- Born: January 13, 1926
- Birthplace: Newbury, Berkshire, England
- Died: June 27, 2017
- Place of death: London, England
Biography
Thomas Michael Bond was born on January 13, 1926, at West Mills in Newbury, Berkshire, England, to civil servant Norman Robert Bond and Frances Mary Offer Bond. When he was six months old, his parents moved to Reading, where his father had been reassigned. Thomas enjoyed a carefree childhood, playing cricket with his father, tending to his pets, exploring his neighborhood, and building radios. He enjoyed reading The Swiss Family Robinson serialized magazine stories and mysteries his mother borrowed from the library. Bond reluctantly attended a local boy’s boarding school, Presentation College, as a day pupil until he was fourteen years old.
Employed initially by a lawyer, Bond, utilizing his radio skills, then assisted British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) engineers in Reading. By 1943, he had begun serving as navigator with a Royal Air Force crew during World War II, training in Scotland and Canada. Bond disliked being a navigator, as he suffered from dizziness and nausea. By 1945, he joined the Middlesex Regiment of the British army. After the Allies won the war, Bond was stationed in Cairo, Egypt, prior to being discharged in 1947.
He accepted employment with a BBC monitoring service in Caversham until 1950, when he started operating television cameras for the BBC at London. On June 29, 1950, Bond married Brenda Mary Johnson, a BBC colleague. They lived in London, then at Haslemere, and had one daughter and one son prior to divorcing in 1981. Bond later married Susan Marfrey Rogers. He lives in London, where he is the director of Paddington and Company Ltd.
Bond initiated his writing career during his army service in the Egyptian desert. He completed a short story that the London Opinion bought in 1945. Encouraged, Bond wrote more stories, play scripts for radio broadcasts, and magazine articles. By the late 1950s, Bond started writing children’s books when he bought a stuffed bear for his wife. That toy inspired a book series, beginning with A Bear Called Paddington (1958), which Bond wrote in ten days. Those books’ success enabled Bond to quit working and concentrate on his writing.
In addition to writing about Paddington, he created other series for children in the 1960s and 1970s. Starting in the early 1980s, Bond created an ongoing mystery series, featuring gourmand Monsieur Pamplemousse and his canine Pommes Frites, for adult readers. Bond coauthored several Paddington books with his daughter, Karen, in the mid-1980s and early twenty-first century. He also wrote scripts for televised puppet shows and radio and television programs broadcast in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. In honor of Paddington's fiftieth anniversary, he published Paddington Here and Now in 2008, beginning to put a contemporary twist on the beloved character's story.
Along with further books in his Monsieur Pamplemousse series, including Monsieur Pamplemousse and the Militant Midwives (2006), Monsieur Pamplemousse and the Carbon Footprint (2011), and Monsieur Pamplemousse and the Tangled Web (2014), Bond continued to publish works about Paddington into his early nineties, with Paddington's Finest Hour (2017) serving as the last iteration published in his lifetime. Following a brief illness, he died at his home in London on June 27, 2017, at the age of ninety-one. His final book about Paddington was slated to be published posthumously on the anniversary of his death in 2018.
Reviewers recognized why Bond’s Paddington books appealed to both children and adults, noting Bond’s humorous, playful writing style, presenting familiar situations and hilarious miscommunications. The American Library Association designated Bond’s book Tales of Olga da Polga, about a guinea pig, a Notable Book. Bond received the Order of the British Empire to honor his contributions to children’s literature in 1997 and in 2015, he was made a commander. Publishers translated Bond’s books into approximately thirty languages and sold thirty million copies worldwide. His Paddington stories were adapted for theater and animated television performances; in 2014, Paddington, a live-action film starring Hugh Bonneville and Nicole Kidman and with Paddington represented through computer animation was released to positive reviews, leading to a sequel.
Bibliography
Bond, Michael. "Michael Bond: 'I'm at My Desk by 9am. I Even Write on Christmas Day." The Guardian, 24 Dec. 2016, www.theguardian.com/books/2016/dec/24/michael-bond-writing-day-paddington-bear. Accessed 20 Nov. 2017.
Gates, Anita. "Michael Bond, Paddington Bear Creator, Is Dead at 91." The New York Times, 28 June 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/06/28/books/michael-bond-dead-paddington-bear.html. Accessed 20 Nov. 2017.
Hodges, Amanda. "Interview with Paddington Creator Michael Bond." Essential Surrey and SW London, 13 Nov. 2014, www.essentialsurrey.co.uk/celebrity-interview/interview-with-paddington-creator-michael-bond/. Accessed 20 Nov. 2017.
Horwell, Veronica. "Michael Bond Obituary." The Guardian, 28 June 2017, www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jun/28/michael-bond-obituary. Accessed 20 Nov. 2017.
Pauli, Michelle. "Michael Bond: 'Paddington Stands Up for Things, He's Not Afraid of Going to the Top and Giving Them a Hard Stare.'" The Guardian, 28 Nov. 2014, www.theguardian.com/books/2014/nov/28/michael-bond-author-paddington-bear-interview-books-television-film. Accessed 20 Nov. 2017.