The children's author died at his home yesterday following a short illness, his publisher HarperCollins said
13:01, 28 Jun 2017Updated 17:37, 28 Jun 2017
Paddington Bear creator Michael Bond has sadly passed away, aged 91.
The children's author died at his home yesterday following a short illness, his publisher HarperCollins said.
Ann-Janine Murtagh, executive publisher of HarperCollins Children's Books, said: "I feel privileged to have been Michael Bond's publisher - he was a true gentleman, a bon viveur, the most entertaining company and the most enchanting of writers.
"He will be forever remembered for his creation of the iconic Paddington, with his duffle coat and wellington boots, which touched my own heart as a child and will live on in the hearts of future generations.
Michael Bond, author of Paddington(Image: DAILY MIRROR)
"My thoughts and love are with his wife, Sue and his children Karen and Anthony."
The official Paddington Bear Twitter account has tweeted about the sad news.
Michael was born in Berkshire in 1962 and served with the Royal Air Force and the British Army during World War II.
He dreamt up the idea for Paddington Bear when he was working at a cameraman for the BBC.
(Image: PA)
He recalls the moment on the Paddington Bear website, writing: "I bought a small toy bear on Christmas Eve 1956.
"I saw it left on a shelf in a London store and felt sorry for it.
"I took it home as a present for my wife Brenda and named it Paddington as we were living near Paddington Station at the time.
"I wrote some stories about the bear, more for fun than with the idea of having them published.
(Image: PA)
"After ten days I found that I had a book on my hands. It wasn’t written specifically for children, but I think I put into it the kind things I liked reading about when I was young."
His stories about the bear with the battered suitcase have sold more than 35million copies worldwide.
In 1997 Michael was awarded an OBE for services to children's literature followed by a CBE in 2015.
Michael has been awarded both a OBE and a CBE(Image: Getty Images Europe)
In his last interview, Michael spoke about Paddington Bear's 60th anniversary.
He said: "Paddington is to me very real. He's a presence. Sixty years is a long time.
"It's hard to explain, but he is a very real person."
Michael's stories about the bear from Peru have been translated into 40 languages.