Sue Townsend, author of Adrian Mole books, dies after short illness

[LeicsDom]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-26982680
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_Townsend

And only 68. Hardly any age at all

[bankside]

Oh, that's a great loss. I'll have to go back and reread now.

[ChickenGuy]

Oh god back in about 1986 when I was like 10 or 11 my parents bought me a VHS tape which was my LEAST favourite in my collection behind 20 or 30 other things and it was at the very end of the shelf (I grudgingly watched it a few times) - never knew it was an adaptation of a book until like last year.

It starred Julie Walters (better known these days for playing Mrs. Weasley in Harry Potter) who was his mum, and Beryl Reid as his gran. Haven't watched that VHS tape in over a decade, probably two. It's sitting gathering dust (like all the others) in a room in my dad's house.

[pat grimshaw]

Was she any good as a writer?

Wiki says she did comedy with social commentary and a story about the British royal family living a "normal" life on an urban housing estate following a republican revolution.

[LeicsDom]

Didn't she go blind or deaf a few years ago ?

Yes her sight started to go a few years ago and she was virtually blind. But she still wrote

[Essex Boy]

I remember her telling a story about being admitted to hospital to have a baby. A nurse looked at the file with her personal details and said, "Oh, you've got the same name as that woman who writes those stupid books. How embarrassing!"

[Harke the Boeotarch]

I enjoyed watching The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 and was pleasantly surprized when Adrian Mole: The Cappucino Years was aired on the BBC. Feel sad about Townsend's death, it feels like a another little piece of my youth has died.

[JohnnyAnger]

A great loss, I never watched the show as it was all a bit before my time but I did read all of the Adrian Mole series when I was about 13/4/5 and loved them to bits even if it did lead me to fear writing at that age in case I myself became a pretentious idiot like Adrian!

"The tap drips and keeps me awake / In the morning there will be a lake" – Adrian Albert Mole, aged 13¾.

[pat grimshaw]

I've never touched the stuff.

(and I admit I spend more time reading ABOUT writers than about their work).

And I notice no-one has responded to my post #5.

[LeicsDom]

I've never touched the stuff.

(and I admit I spend more time reading ABOUT writers than about their work).

And I notice no-one has responded to my post #5.

Well, she made a very good living as a writer so I suppose you can say she was a good writer

[pat grimshaw]

….

Fair enough. (I'm a fan of Muriel Spark)

[unloadonme]

So, farewell then Sue Townsend aged 68 and three - quarters,
creator of Adrian Mole,
lover of Pandora.
Yes I know your birthday was in April,
but I'm sure you'd allow me
a little artistic licence.

E J Thribb

[Harke the Boeotarch]

I had a crush on a Pandora like girl once.

[unloadonme]

I had a crush on a Pandora like girl once.

Did her box put you off?