The creator of the beloved Clifford series has died at age 86. Clifford himself is over 50 years old, though one can’t see a hair of gray in his bright red fur.
From NPR:
"Norman Bridwell’s books about Clifford, childhood’s most lovable dog, could only have been written by a gentle man with a great sense of humor," Scholastic president and CEO Dick Robinson said. "Norman personified the values that we as parents and educators hope to communicate to our children – kindness, compassion, helpfulness, gratitude."
As the AP notes, "Clifford became standard nighttime reading for countless families and a money machine for publisher Scholastic Inc. Spinoffs include cartoons with John Ritter as the voice of Clifford and future Hunger Games novelist Suzanne Collins among the script writers."