Paddington Bear creator sadly passes away aged 91

Many will have seen the very sad news this morning that Michael Bond, creator of our beloved Paddington Bear, sadly passed away yesterday at his home aged 91. 

The following statement was released 

Michael was a BBC cameraman and part time writer when one Christmas Eve he bought a small soft toy bear that was sitting all alone on a shelf in a department store. He gave it to his wife as a Christmas present and a little while later, when wondering what to write about, he noticed the bear and began to write a story about what being a bear in a human world would be like. He called the bear Paddington after the station near where he was living at the time.

‘A Bear Called Paddington’ was first published by William Collins and Sons in 1958 and has never been out of print since. With Michael’s careful guidance Paddington made the transition to television in 1975 and a merchandising programme launched in the same decade. More recently Paddington featured in a highly acclaimed feature film and its sequel Paddington 2 is due to be released by Studiocanal in November this year. Michael was the most modest and nicest of people and, like Paddington, very polite with a clear sense of right and wrong and a gentle sense of humour. He will be greatly missed by all at Copyrights who have represented the merchandising of his wonderful creation since 1982.

Our thoughts are with Michael's family from all of us here at The Paddington Collective.