Jean Adamson, the children’s author known for writing the Topsy And Tim book series, has died at the age of 96.
Her family, who confirmed the writer died on Sunday, said her memory will “live on in the hearts” of those she loved and in people who “remember her through her stories”.
The Topsy And Tim series follows the adventures of two twins and was created with her husband Gareth Adamson, who died in 1982.
It spawned more than 150 books and a television series.
In a statement released by Topsy And Tim publisher Ladybird Books, Adamson’s family said: “It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of our beloved Jean Adamson.
“Jean was a devoted mother, grandmother, sister and author whose kindness and warmth touched the lives of all who knew her.
“Her presence will be greatly missed.
“Although we will take this time to mourn her loss, we will also ensure to celebrate her remarkable life.”
Born in 1928 in Peckham, London, the author studied illustration at Goldsmiths College in London.
She went on to teach there, specialising in illustration and design, and also met her husband at the college.
The pair married in 1957 and moved to Newcastle, where they began working on children’s books, and also created original animations for Yorkshire TV in the 1970s.
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In a statement, Francesca Dow, managing director of Penguin Random House Children’s, which runs Ladybird, said: “Jean and her husband Gareth’s work was uncharacteristic of the time, with Jean’s art style being bright, pared back and uncluttered.
“They made sure that the depictions of these first experiences were well-researched so that parents and children could trust them.
“And, unusually for the time, gave Topsy an equal role to play in the adventures as Tim.
“Jean will be greatly missed. She leaves behind a gift to children and their families in her greatest creations.”
The two characters first appeared in Topsy And Tim’s Monday Book, originally published by Blackie in 1960.
The books have sold more than 25 million copies worldwide, while in recent years, children will be familiar with the story of the twins through a TV series first aired on CBeebies in 2013.
Government departments are doing “anything to avoid” sharing information about Prince Andrew’s past business dealings.
The claim comes from author Andrew Lownie who’s been working for four years on a new book about the Duke of York.
He has submitted over a hundred requests to Whitehall departments only to find that information “has vanished”.
Speaking to Sky News, he said: “I used to write about the intelligence services, and I found that was a lot easier, a lot more open and transparent than the Royal Family.
“I have tried, through the Freedom Information Act, to get access to any of the paperwork for Andrew, a special representative between 2001 and 2011 when he was taxpayer-funded, a public servant”, but explaining how his requests have been rejected he said “this stuff has vanished”.
‘It’s like playing whack-a-mole’
“The Foreign Office claimed not to know anything about it. The Department of Business and Trade know nothing.
“It’s like playing whack-a-mole. It’s real Yes Minister stuff, anything to avoid releasing this information.”
Interest in Prince Andrew’s finances has increased in recent months after it was revealed that the King was no longer paying him an allowance, raising questions about how he is able to pay for his home on the Windsor Estate, Royal Lodge, and security.
The prince’s time as trade envoy for the UK may be significant because it was potentially a lucrative time for him, giving him access to business contacts around the world.
Information withheld ‘in accordance with the acts’
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “The department has complied with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act and Public Records Act and maintains that information has been withheld in accordance with the acts.
“This includes an ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) decision notice which outlined that the commissioner did not need to take any further steps.”
When asked, the Foreign Office told Sky News: “The FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) takes its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act very seriously.”
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2:56
Alleged Chinese spy linked to the prince
It comes as a Chinese businessman – described as a “close confidant” of Prince Andrew – was barred from entering the UK over national security risks.
Known as H6, the man was invited to the duke’s birthday party in 2020, and was told by Andrew’s aide Dominic Hampshire that he could help in potential dealings with Chinese investors. A judge ruled the Chinese businessman had an “unusual” degree of trust from the royal.
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On Friday, the duke said he “ceased all contact” with the businessman after concerns were raised by the government.
Andrew met the individual through “official channels” with “nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed”, a statement from his office said.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper would not comment on the case but said: “Our security and intelligence agencies are continually vigilant for any threat to UK national security, whether that be around foreign influence, whether it be around espionage, whether it be around any security threat.
“So, of course, we won’t hesitate to take action in individual cases or more widely, wherever any challenge arises.
Prince’s friendship raises more questions over his wealth
Prince Andrew’s friendship with an alleged Chinese spy raises yet more uncomfortable and embarrassing questions for him.
And it prompts very serious concerns about whether the Duke of York created a threat to national security by their “close” association.
Official court documents state the relationship between the two had a “convert and clandestine” element.
We know the individual acted as Prince Andrew’s business adviser, was invited to his birthday party, and more importantly, won an “unusual” degree of trust from someone who was a senior member of the Royal Family.
There is now further pressure to uncover the full extent of the pair’s association, and whether it continued after Andrew was forced to step down from his government role.
Andrew’s role as a “special representative” for trade began in 2001, but ended after his connections with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein were exposed.
The court papers now suggest the pressures on him at the time could have made him vulnerable to abuse.
After his fall from grace, and removal as a working royal, there has been much speculation about Prince Andrew’s wealth and his ability to pay for the upkeep of his large Windsor home Royal Lodge, which requires significant and expensive repairs.
Andrew is now facing even more scrutiny. And even more questions about the people he surrounded himself with.
Growing call for accountability
Former chair of the public accounts committee between 2010 and 2015, Baroness Margaret Hodge, has joined calls for less secrecy generally around the royal finances.
She told me: “I find it really difficult to believe that the departments for whom Prince Andrew had contact when he was an envoy have not got the records.
“They will have those records, they obviously just don’t want to share them. And that really says it all.
“I want a Royal Family that is well-funded: they’re a precious and valued institution in our society but going with that funding must come some accountability.”
Image: Prince Andrew, Mike Tindall, Sarah, Duchess of York, Princess Anne and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence attend a thanksgiving service for the life of King Constantine of the Hellenes in February. File pic: PA
The palace believes that as a non-working royal, the duke’s income and tax arrangements are a matter for him and HM Revenue and Customs.
In terms of how he is paying for Royal Lodge, Sky News understands the royal household has been given assurances that his sources of income are all above board, however, it is not in their remit to vet or approve those sources.
It sees it as a job for the Crown Estate which manages properties in the likes of the Windsor Estate.
But Royal Lodge is of interest more generally to the family.
As the former home of the Queen Mother, it’s been suggested that potentially other members of the family may be interested in living there in the future, from the Prince and Princess of Wales to Queen Camilla looking at it for her family.
‘Opaque’ and ‘confusing’
However Robert Hardman, journalist and author of Charles III: New King. New Court, says: “Everything to do with Prince Andrew is opaque, is confusing, people don’t really want to talk about it because his situation is a distraction.”
He added: “I think the real question is not what’s happening today, it’s what’s happening in a few years down the line, what happens if his savings run out, these sources of income such as they are at the moment, what if they run out and suddenly he can’t afford to pay for the maintenance or the protection, what happens to the lease then?
“Does the Crown Estate then say, ‘Well, actually the terms of the lease have been forfeited?’ We just don’t know.
“It is a private financial matter for him but given the prominence of the house and its history and its connections, then the media are clearly going to carry on taking a keen interest in it, as are the Crown Estate and as are ultimately the Treasury.”
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1:43
Prince Andrew and China: What is happening?
Prince Andrew’s television interview five years ago about his links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein was meant to shut the scandal down and allow him to get back to public duties without that distraction.
Instead, it had the opposite effect.
This year, he has only been seen once officially in front of the cameras, as he appeared to lead the family as they walked to the chapel at Windsor for a memorial service in February.
This Christmas we may again see Andrew with the rest of the family going to church at Sandringham, always a sign that he hasn’t been entirely left out in the cold by his relatives.
But he still lives with the repercussions of the Jeffrey Epstein saga, his extraordinary downfall meaning questions will continue to remain about him, how he lives and his finances.
Novelist Fay Weldon, best known for her works The Life And Loves Of A She-Devil and Praxis has died aged 91.
A family statement posted on Twitter read: “It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Fay Weldon (CBE), author, essayist and playwright.
“She died peacefully this morning 4 January 2023.”
The novelist, playwright and screenwriter’s body of work includes more than 30 novels – as well as short stories and plays written for television, radio and the stage.
Previously writing on her website to fans, Weldon apologised for being “out of touch for a long time,” before explaining that she had been hospitalised due to suffering from a broken bone in her back and a stroke.
She wrote: “I’ve been out of touch for a long time, for which, my apologies.
“I have been hospitalised for much of the last year, first with a broken bone in my back and then with a stroke, therefore my silence. I am mostly recovered.”
Born in September 1931, Weldon returned to the UK as a child after being raised in New Zealand.
She went on to read economics and psychology at the University of St Andrews in Scotland and later received an honorary doctorate from the institution in 1990.
Working briefly for the Foreign Office in London and as a journalist, Weldon then moved to start work as an advertising copywriter.
Leaving her career to focus on her writing, she published her first novel, The Fat Woman’s Joke, in 1967. She went on to write children’s books, non-fiction books and newspaper articles.
Weldon was one of the writers on the hit drama series Upstairs, Downstairs which ran from 1971 to 1975. The show’s first episode won an award from the Writers Guild of America.
Her novels, including Down Among The Women (1971) and Female Friends (1975), explored issues surrounding women’s relationships with men, children, parents and each other.
The 1978 novel Praxis was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction and later, Weldon chaired the 1983 judges’ panel for the prestigious award.
At the age of 70, in 2002 she published a memoir called Auto Da Fa, and before retiring in 2021 taught as a professor of creative writing at Bath Spa University.
In 2001, she was made CBE for her services to literature in the New Year Honours list.
JK Rowling has tweeted a picture of herself in a T-shirt that calls Scotland’s first minister a “destroyer of women’s rights”.
The author also gave her support to people protesting over a new gender recognition law in the country.
She posted: “I stand in solidarity with @ForWomenScot and all women protesting and speaking outside the Scottish Parliament. #NoToSelfID.”
The legislation aims to amend a previous law to make it easier for transgender people to be legally recognised as their chosen gender and get a new birth certificate.
They will no longer need to provide medical reports or evidence, and the minimum age of applicants for a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) will be cut from 18 to 16.
A majority of MSPs on a parliamentary committee have recommended that the general principles of the Gender Recognition Reform Bill should be approved.
Scotland’s social justice secretary has said it won’t give trans people new rights but is about “simplifying and improving the process for a trans person to gain legal recognition”.
In a statement, Shona Robison said: “Our support for trans rights does not conflict with our continued strong commitment to uphold the rights and protections that women and girls currently have under the 2010 Equality Act. This bill makes no changes to that act.”
People protested against the planned law outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on Thursday.
Some carried signs reading “no one was born in the wrong body”, “humans can’t change sex” and “keep prisons single sex”.
Former Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont said the committee “should listen, they should challenge, they should argue, they should probe”.
She added: “They should not dismiss, because in that world of dismissal, you shoot the messenger. You ignore the message, you make bad law and other people live with the consequences.”
Rowling has been criticised by some over her views on women’s rights and trans people but strongly denies being transphobic.
In January, police said they wouldn’t charge trans activists who tweeted photos showing her address – so-called “doxing”.
Double Booker Prize winner Dame Hilary Mantel, author of the epic Wolf Hall trilogy, has died aged 70.
In a statement, her publisher 4th Estate books said: “We are heartbroken at the death of our beloved author, Dame Hilary Mantel, and our thoughts are with her friends and family, especially her husband, Gerald.
“This is a devastating loss and we can only be grateful she left us with such a magnificent body of work.”
The British writer won the Booker Prize for Wolf Hall, and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies.
The conclusion to the trilogy, Mirror and the Light, was published in 2020. It was an instant number one fiction best-seller and longlisted for Booker Prize the same year, winning the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, which she first won for Wolf Hall.
The trilogy, which charts the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell in the court of King Henry VIII, has been translated into 41 languages, with sales of more than five million worldwide.
The first two books were adapted for the BBC and broadcast on BBC Two in January 2015, earning huge critical acclaim.
The six-part series, directed by Peter Kosminsky, starred Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell, Damian Lewis as Henry VIII and Claire Foy as Anne Boleyn.
At the 2016 TV BAFTAs, it won best drama series, while Rylance picked up the award for best actor. At the Golden Globes the same year, it was named best mini-series.
Paying tribute, publishers HarperCollins described Dame Hilary as “one of the greatest English novelists of this century”.
“Her beloved works are considered modern classics. She will be greatly missed.”
Bill Hamilton, Dame Hilary’s agent at literary agency A.M. Heath, said it had been the “greatest privilege” to work with her throughout her career, adding she would also be remembered for “her capacity to electrify a live audience”.
He said: “Her wit, stylistic daring, creative ambition and phenomenal historical insight mark her out as one of the greatest novelists of our time.”
“Emails from Hilary were sprinkled with bon mots and jokes as she observed the world with relish and pounced on the lazy or absurd and nailed cruelty and prejudice,” he said.
“There was always a slight aura of otherworldliness about her, as she saw and felt things us ordinary mortals missed, but when she perceived the need for confrontation she would fearlessly go into battle.
“And all of that against the backdrop of chronic health problems, which she dealt with so stoically. We will miss her immeasurably, but as a shining light for writers and readers she leaves an extraordinary legacy. Our thoughts go out to her beloved husband Gerald, family and friends,” he added.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling shared a tweet from 4th Estate Books announcing Mantel’s death, writing “We’ve lost a genius.”
Author Nicholas Evans, who wrote The Horse Whisperer, has died following a heart attack at the age of 72, his agents have said.
Born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, his career saw him work in newspapers and television as well as becoming a bestselling author.
His first novel, The Horse Whisperer, published in 1995, has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and been translated into 36 languages.
The story was adapted for the big screen in 1998 by Hollywood star Robert Redford, who starred as the title character, with Scarlett Johansson playing young rider Grace MacLean in her breakout role.
During the 1970s Mr Evans worked as a journalist on the Evening Chronicle in Newcastle upon Tyne before moving into broadcasting media.
He specialised in US politics and foreign affairs and spent time covering the war in Beirut
In September 2008 Mr Evans nearly died after consuming poisonous mushrooms and had to have a kidney transplant, with his daughter donating the life-saving organ.
In a statement, his agents said: “United Agents are very sad to announce the sudden death of the celebrated bestselling author Nicholas Evans who died suddenly on Tuesday this week following a heart attack, aged 72.”
The stabbing of author Sir Salman Rushdie has shocked and horrified fellow writes and world leaders, with many praising him as a defender of free speech.
The 75-year-old remains on a ventilator after being airlifted to hospital and undergoing hours of surgery following the attack in New York state.
And messages of support have been pouring in for the Indian-born British author.
Fellow novelist Ian McEwan said: “This appalling attack on my dear friend Salman represents an assault on freedom of thought and speech.
“These are the freedoms that underpin all our rights and liberties. Salman has been an inspirational defender of persecuted writers and journalists across the world.”
Read more: Why is Salman Rushdie so controversial?
Norwegian William Nygaard, who was shot and severely wounded in 1993 after publishing Sir Salman’s work, said: “He is a leading author who has meant so much to literature, and he had found a good life in the United States.”
Home Secretary Priti Patel tweeted: “Shocked and appalled to hear of the unprovoked and senseless attack on Sir Salman Rushdie.
“Freedom of expression is a value we hold dear and attempts to undermine it must not be tolerated. My thoughts are with Sir Salman and his family.”
Boris Johnson said: “Appalled that Sir Salman Rushdie has been stabbed while exercising a right we should never cease to defend.
“We are all hoping he is okay.”
French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: “For 33 years, Salman Rushdie has embodied freedom and the fight against obscurantism… His battle is ours, a universal one.”
Image: Ian McEwan and Sir Salman Rushdie
Multimillion-selling horror writer Stephen King tweeted: “I hope Salman Rushdie is okay.” before adding “What kind of ***hat stabs a writer, anyway? F*****!”
Comedian and author David Baddiel tweeted: “It’s appalling what has happened to Salman Rushdie. It’s also appalling that there are people who will think he brought it on himself or somehow deserved it.”
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said: “Today, the country and the world witnessed a reprehensible attack against the writer Salman Rushdie. This act of violence is appalling.
“All of us in the Biden-Harris Administration are praying for his speedy recovery. We are thankful to good citizens and first responders for helping Mr Rushdie so quickly after the attack and to law enforcement for its swift and effective work, which is ongoing.”
And Suzanne Nossel, of free expression group Pen America, said: “While we do not know the origins or motives of this attack, all those around the world who have met words with violence or called for the same are culpable for legitimising this assault on a writer while he was engaged in his essential work of connecting to readers.”
Author Salman Rushdie will likely lose an eye and has suffered severed nerves in an arm and damage to his liver after he was stabbed, his agent has said.
The 75-year-old remains on a ventilator after being airlifted to hospital and undergoing hours of surgery following the attack in New York state.
“The news is not good. Salman will likely lose one eye, the nerves in his arm were severed, and his liver was stabbed and damaged,” Andrew Wylie said in a written statement.
The Indian-born British author was being introduced to the audience ahead of giving a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution, when a man stormed the stage and began attacking him, according to witnesses.
Image: Medics put up a screen as they tended to the author’s wounds. Pic: AP
Image: Pic: Mary Newsom
As Sir Salman fell to the floor, the man was pinned down by audience members and staff who ran on stage. The suspect was arrested by a state trooper soon after, and is now in custody.
He has been identified as 24-year-old Hadi Matar from Fairview, New Jersey, who bought a pass for the event. Police say they do not yet know a motive for the assault, but they believe the suspect was acting alone.
Image: A person was pictured being detained outside the Chautauqua Institution. Photo: AP
Read more: Why is Salman Rushdie so controversial?
Witness Pilar Pintagro told Sky News: “We were very scared because the first place (he was stabbed) was in the neck and that’s where the blood started to splash everywhere, and then he stabbed him in the shoulders and continued stabbing several times because it was so fast.
“People from the audience actually jumped onto the stage to try to put him down and Salman was trying to walk away from this guy, but he continued stabbing several times, and he was finally pinned down.”
Image: Sir Salman was airlifted to hospital
‘In shock’
The writer was helped by a doctor who was in the audience before emergency services arrived.
Police said the event’s moderator, Henry Reese, suffered a minor head injury after also being attacked.
Another witness Julia Mineeva Braun told Sky News that as Sir Salman was being introduced “all of a sudden from the left-hand side of the stage a short man, (dressed) all in black, ran out, and he approached Mr Rushdie”.
“It was very quick… we thought he was fixing his microphone, and then we saw the knife. He started stabbing him in the neck first… and Mr Rushdie got up and started running. We’re still in shock.”
Rushdie continued to write despite threat to life
Salman Rushdie is an Indian-born British author whose writing about religion and politics has made him controversial in some parts of the world.
His first three novels – Grimus (1975), Midnight’s Children (1981) and Shame (1983) – were all met with praise but it was his fourth – The Satanic Verses – that brought criticism.
Some of the scenes in the 1988 book depict a character modelled on the Prophet Muhammad and this was met with anger from some members of the Muslim community in the UK.
Protests spread to Pakistan in January 1989 and the following month, the spiritual leader of revolutionary Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, condemned the book and issued a fatwa against him.
A bounty was offered for his death. Rushdie went into hiding under the protection of Scotland Yard in the UK, although he appeared in public occasionally.
Despite the threat to his life, he continued to write and in 1998 the Iranian government said it would no longer enforce the fatwa. But Ayatollah Khomeini’s successor as Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in 2005 that the fatwa was still valid.
Rushdie wrote about his experience in the third-person memoir Joseph Anton in 2012. He was knighted in 2007, a move that was criticised by the Iranian and Pakistani governments.
Sir Salman’s publisher Penguin Random House said they were “deeply shocked” by the incident.
“We condemn this violent public assault, and our thoughts are with Salman and his family at this distressing time.”
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan described the attack as “appalling”, adding: “We’re thankful to good citizens and first responders for helping him so swiftly.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Twitter he was “appalled that Sir Salman Rushdie has been stabbed while exercising a right we should never cease to defend”.
He added: “Right now my thoughts are with his loved ones. We are all hoping he is okay.”
Sir Salman lives in New York City and became a US citizen in 2016. His lecture was expected to discuss America’s role as an asylum for writers and other artists in exile, and as a home for freedom of creative expression.
Image: Pic: AP
His fourth book, The Satanic Verses, was banned in 1988 in a number of countries with large Muslim populations, including Iran, after it was considered by some to contain blasphemous passages.
In 1989, Iran’s then leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, calling for Sir Salman’s death.
The Middle East country also offered a bounty of more than $3m for anyone who kills the writer.
Author and illustrator Raymond Briggs, best known for the 1978 classic The Snowman, has died aged 88.
The announcement was made by his publisher, Penguin Random House.
The Snowman was first released as a picture book – and has sold more than 5.5 million copies worldwide – before it was turned into a much-loved animation in 1982. The show was made for Channel 4 and has since become a festive staple and shown every Christmas since.
Briggs also created beloved children’s books Father Christmas and Fungus The Bogeyman.
A statement from his family said: “We know that Raymond’s books were loved by and touched millions of people around the world, who will be sad to hear this news. Drawings from fans – especially children’s drawings – inspired by his books were treasured by Raymond and pinned up on the wall of his studio.
“He lived a rich and full life and said he felt lucky to have had both his wife Jean and his partner of over 40 years Liz in his life.
“He shared his love of nature with Liz on South Downs walks and on family holidays to Scotland and Wales. He also shared his sense of fun and craziness with his family, and with his family of artist friends – at get-togethers, fancy dress parties, and summer picnics in the garden.
“He played practical jokes and enjoyed them being played on him. All of us close to him knew his irreverent humour – this could be biting in his work when it came to those in power. He liked the Guardian editorial describing himself as an ‘iconoclastic national treasure’.”
An extraordinary legacy
Image: Raymond Briggs at his Sussex home
Born in Wimbledon in 1934, Briggs studied at the Wimbledon School of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art before briefly pursuing painting.
After becoming a professional illustrator, he worked and taught illustration at the Brighton College of Art.
His won numerous prizes across his career, including the Kurt Maschler Award, The Children’s Book of the Year, the Dutch Silver Pen Award. He was made a CBE for services to literature in 2017.
Francesca Dow, managing director at Penguin Random House Children’s, said: “I am very proud that Puffin has been the home of Raymond’s children’s books for so many years.
“Raymond’s books are picture masterpieces that address some of the fundamental questions of what it is to be human, speaking to both adults and children with a remarkable economy of words and illustrations.”
She said he was “a brilliantly observant, funny storyteller, honest about how life is rather than how adults might wish to tell it to children”.
“A kindness, integrity, and generosity run through all his books,” she added.
“And so in life: Raymond was a generous, unjealous spirit who was a pleasure to work with, as well as to visit in his Sussex cottage and experience his teasing genius in its home. He was funny! He made us laugh a lot. I will miss him. All of us who had the privilege of working with him will miss him.”
Ms Dow said Briggs had been “unique” and had “inspired generations of creators of picture books, graphic novels, and animations”.
She added: “He leaves an extraordinary legacy and a big hole.”
A ‘titan of industry’
Illustrator Rob Biddulph, whose titles include Dog Gone and Blown Away, paid tribute to Brigg’s influence on the industry.
“A titan in our industry and a true one-off,” he said.
“The Snowman was a work of undeniable genius – a game-changer, not just in the world of children’s books, but books full stop. Thank you for inspiring me, Mr Briggs. RIP.”
The Book Trust, which awarded Briggs a lifetime achievement award in 2017, said it was “devastated” to hear of his death.
Cressida Cowell, author and illustrator of How To Train Your Dragon, said: “Deeply sad to hear of the death of Raymond Briggs.
“What a magnificent legacy he leaves, from his iconic Father Christmas and the Snowman to the terrifying Where the Wind Blows. His books brought so much joy and inspired so many, touching, hilarious, and heartbreaking work “
British author Lara Maiklem called Briggs “a genius”.
Maiklem, who has worked with Briggs, tweeted alongside a picture of his illustration of Fungus the Bogeyman: “So sad to hear about Raymond Briggs this morning.
“A huge fan since I was a child, I had the great fortune of working with him a few years ago.
“Grumpy and difficult, he was nonetheless a genius.
