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11 Apr 2014

Adrian Mole author Sue Townsend dies, aged 68

Sue Townsend, best known as the author of the Adrian Mole series of books, has died, a family friend says.

The 68-year-old writer is understood to have passed away after a short illness.

Townsend, who was left blind after suffering from diabetes for many years, achieved worldwide success after the publication The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole, aged 13 3/4, in 1982.

Fellow Leicester author Bali Rai said that Townsend’s family had told him of her death. Mr Rai told The Sun he had spoken with Townsend’s son Danny, who said she died at about 9pm yesterday but would not confirm she had died from a stroke.

Stephen Mangan, who played Adrian Mole in a 2001 television adaptation, tweeted his condolences, saying: “Greatly upset to hear that Sue Townsend has died. One of the warmest, funniest and wisest people I ever met.”

Townsend was born in Leicester in 1946. She left school at the age of 15, married at 18 and by 23 was a single parent with three children, a biography from her publisher, Penguin, said.

Penguin Books tweeted that the company was “deeply saddened” at the news of her passing.

After writing in secret for 20 years while working as a factory worker, shop assistant and youth worker, Townsend eventually joined a writers’ group at the Phoenix Theatre in Leicester when she was in her 30s.

At 35 she won the Thames Playwright Award for her play Womberang and a year later published the first in her series about Adrian Mole, which she had begun writing in 1975.

The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole aged 13 3/4 was published in 1982, followed by The Growing Pains Of Adrian Mole in 1984. The two books made her the best-selling novelist of the 1980s.

The Adrian Mole series went on to include a further six novels – most recently Adrian Mole: The Prostate Years.

Adrian Mole – the highlights:

> “I have never seen a dead body or a female nipple. This is what comes from living in a cul de sac.” – the young Adrian despairs of life in suburban Leicester.

> “After hearing the disgusting noises from downstairs last night, I have also vowed never to drink alcohol.” – Adrian is outraged after his parents host a party.

> “Pandora! / I adore ya / I implore ye / Don’t ignore me”. – One of Adrian’s early attempts at verse inspired by his love of the unobtainable Pandora Braithwaite.

> “It is the first day of spring. The council have chopped all the elms down in Elm Tree Avenue.” – The arrival of spring upsets the young poet.

> “My mother wants to move. She wants to sell the house that I have lived in all my life. She said that we will need more room ‘for the baby’. How stupid can you get? Babies hardly take any space at all. They are only about 21 inches long.” – A new arrival threatens Adrian’s settled existence.

> “Had a note from Mr Cherry asking me when I can resume my paper round. I sent a note back to say that due to my mother’s desertion I am still in a mental state. This is true. I wore odd socks yesterday without knowing it. One was red and one was green. I must pull myself together. I could end up in a lunatic asylum.” – His parents’ separation has a disastrous effect on Adrian’s life and his paper round.

Sue Townsend, who has died aged 68 (picture: Getty)

Townsend suffered with her health through much of her life. She had a heart attack in her 30s and suffered from diabetes for many years, leaving her registered blind in 2001.

In 2009 she had a kidney transplant, which was donated by her son, Sean.

Speaking in 2012 she said: “He felt it more than I did. I’m used to having operations but he’d never been in hospital before. There was never any hesitation, though.

“I was thrilled he was going to give me his kidney, but also scared for him and truly appreciated it.”

She leaves behind her husband, Colin Broadway, and four children.