Sue Townsend, creator of Adrian Mole, dies at 68
British author Sue Townsend, who found international fame chronicling the travails through life of self-obsessed “Adrian Mole”, has died aged 68, her publishers said on Friday.
Townsend, who had to dictate novels in her later years after losing her sight because of diabetes, passed away peacefully at her home in Leicester, central England, after suffering a stroke, Penguin Books said in a statement.
She found success after penning the “The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13-3/4” in 1982, detailing a boy’s comedic exploits as he dealt with adolescence against the backdrop of Margaret Thatcher’s time as prime minister. The novel sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and a sequel two years later made her the best-selling novelist of the 1980s. She went on to write six more books in the hugely popular Mole series.
“Sue Townsend will be remembered as one of great comic writers,” said Tom Weldon, chief executive of Penguin Random House.
Townsend, who left school at 15 and had a variety of jobs from factory worker to shop assistant, wrote in secret for 20 years before joining a writer’s group based at a theatre in Leicester. Aged 35 she won an award for her first play “Womberang” and began her writing career in earnest. Towards the end of her career she grappled with a diabetic condition.