The world is a poorer place
If you grew up in the UK and you don't know who Oliver Postgate is, slap yourself hard and then google him.
If you didn't grow up in the UK and you don't know who he is you get to google him without the slap.
If you know who I'm talking about then you may already be aware that he died on Monday.
I had the privilege of meeting him on occasion, and a nicer human being you couldn't wish to meet. I commented, as I suspect many did, on how much I'd loved Bagpuss and the Clangers as a child and then promptly wanted to kick myself for being so cliched. He told me then that he and Peter Firmin, who worked with him on so many projects, had donated profits from the resurgence of Bagpuss and the Clangers to build a children's hospital in Bosnia. (At least I think he said Bosnia, my memory for names and geography is notoriously awful.) I thought at the time how appropriate it was that the children who were getting joy from the toys and DVDs were actually helping save the lives of less fortunate children. That a saggy, baggy old cloth cat and a bunch of pink, whistling aliens were helping to save kids lives, years after the first kids to enjoy them had grown up.
So I went and bought another whistling clanger from the toyshop. I'm planning to give my nephew the DVDs as he grows up because Spongebob Squarepants or the Teletubbies just aren't the same.
If you didn't grow up in the UK and you don't know who he is you get to google him without the slap.
If you know who I'm talking about then you may already be aware that he died on Monday.
I had the privilege of meeting him on occasion, and a nicer human being you couldn't wish to meet. I commented, as I suspect many did, on how much I'd loved Bagpuss and the Clangers as a child and then promptly wanted to kick myself for being so cliched. He told me then that he and Peter Firmin, who worked with him on so many projects, had donated profits from the resurgence of Bagpuss and the Clangers to build a children's hospital in Bosnia. (At least I think he said Bosnia, my memory for names and geography is notoriously awful.) I thought at the time how appropriate it was that the children who were getting joy from the toys and DVDs were actually helping save the lives of less fortunate children. That a saggy, baggy old cloth cat and a bunch of pink, whistling aliens were helping to save kids lives, years after the first kids to enjoy them had grown up.
So I went and bought another whistling clanger from the toyshop. I'm planning to give my nephew the DVDs as he grows up because Spongebob Squarepants or the Teletubbies just aren't the same.