Sue Townsend facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sue Townsend
Townsend in 2010
Born	Susan Lillian Johnstone (1946-04-02)2 April 1946 Leicester, England
Died	10 April 2014(2014-04-10) (aged 68) Leicester, England
Occupation	Novelist, playwright, screenwriter, columnist
Language	English
Nationality	British
Genre	Drama, fiction, screenplay
Notable works	Adrian Mole (books), Captain Christmas and the Evil Adults (play)
Spouse	Keith Townsend ​ ​ (m. 1964; div. 1971)​ Colin Broadway ​ ​ (m. 1986)​
Children	4

Susan Lillian Townsend (born April 2, 1946 – died April 10, 2014) was a famous English writer. She wrote funny books, plays, and articles. She is most famous for creating the character Adrian Mole.

Sue Townsend started writing secretly when she was 14 years old. She first became known for her plays. Her most famous character, Adrian Mole, first appeared in a radio show. Soon, her writing grew into many other forms.

She became very successful in the 1980s. Her Adrian Mole books sold more copies than any other fiction book in Britain during that time. This book series, which ended up having nine books, is written like Adrian's diaries. The first books tell the story of a teenage boy's life during the time of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Later books show Adrian Mole as a grown-up.

The Queen and I (1992) was another popular book. It showed her feelings about the Royal Family, but she still wrote about them in a kind way. Both the first Adrian Mole book and The Queen and I were made into plays. They were very popular in London's West End.

Townsend was not rich until she was in her thirties. She used her experiences of tough times in her writing. In her later years, she had many health problems. These were partly because of diabetes, which she got in the mid-1980s. In her last years, she had serious problems with her eyesight and moving around.

Early Life and School Days

Sue Townsend was born in Leicester, England. She was the oldest of three sisters. Her father worked in a factory and then became a postman. Her mother worked in a factory kitchen.

When Sue was eight, she got mumps and had to stay home. Her mother bought her some Just William books by Richmal Crompton. Sue loved reading them. She later said that the character William Brown helped inspire her most famous character, Adrian Mole.

Sue did not pass her 11-plus exam. She then went to South Wigston High School, which was a secondary modern school.

Work and Family Life

Sue Townsend left school when she was 14. She worked many different jobs. These included packing food for Birds Eye, working at a petrol station, and being a receptionist. Working at the petrol station gave her time to read between serving customers.

She married Keith Townsend in 1964. They had three children before Sue was 23. In 1971, they divorced, and she became a single parent. Sue and her children faced many difficulties. She once wrote about a time when her oldest child was five. The social security office could not give her even 50p. She had to feed herself and her children with just a tin of peas and an Oxo cube for dinner. Sue would collect empty Corona bottles to get the 4p return fee, which she used to buy food for her children.

When her son was 13, he asked why they never went to animal parks like other families. Sue later said this question started her writing the Adrian Mole books. She wanted to show life through the funny, honest eyes of a teenager. She then started volunteering at youth clubs to learn more about teenagers. This led her to train as a youth worker.

She later met her second husband, Colin Broadway, while working at an adventure playground. They married in 1986 and had their fourth child.

Starting a Writing Career

Sue's new partner encouraged her to join a writers' group in 1978. She was in her early thirties. At first, she was too shy to write anything. But then she was given two weeks to write a play. This play, called Womberang (1979), was about a waiting room in a hospital department for women. She became the writer-in-residence at the Phoenix Theatre in Leicester.

During this time, she got help from many theatre directors. She also met William Ash, who helped her early career. She worked with writer-director Carole Hayman on many plays. They also wrote two TV series together.

When she wrote the first Adrian Mole book, Sue lived near where another writer, Joe Orton, grew up. She said Adrian Mole "came into my head when my eldest son said 'Why don't we go to safari parks like other families do?'" This line helped her remember the feelings of a whiny, self-pitying teenager.

The Success of Adrian Mole

The first two Adrian Mole stories appeared in a small magazine. An actor named Nigel Bennett encouraged her to keep writing. He sent her script to BBC Radio. The character first became known to everyone in a radio play called The Diary of Nigel Mole, Aged 13¼. It was broadcast on New Year's Day in 1982.

Someone at the publisher Methuen heard the radio show. They asked Sue Townsend to write the first book. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ came out in September 1982. The publisher asked her to change the character's name from Nigel to Adrian. This was because it was too similar to another schoolboy character named Nigel Molesworth.

Just one month after the book came out, it was the best-seller. It sold a million copies in a year. The book was made into a play, which ran for over two years in London. Many people thought the first two books showed the real and funny thoughts of a teenage boy. They also captured the feeling of Britain during the time of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984) was said to be based on her children's experiences at a school in Leicester. Some teachers in the book were based on real staff at that school. The first two books were also made into a television series in 1985 and 1987.

Later Life and Other Works

The Queen and I (1992) is a novel where the Royal Family has to live in a regular neighborhood after a big change in the country. Sue Townsend had felt that Britain should be a republic since she was a child. She said that she thought the idea of God was silly, and then the idea of the monarchy also seemed silly. She felt like she was the only one who thought this way.

Like the first Mole book, The Queen and I was made into a play. A critic named Michael Billington said that Townsend was "ahead of the game" in writing about the Royal Family in a play. He said the play actually made the royals seem lovable. A later book, Queen Camilla (2006), was not as popular.

In 2009, Leicester City Council gave Sue Townsend the Honorary Freedom of Leicester. This is a special honor for people who have done great things for the city. She also became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1993. She received special degrees from several universities in Leicester.

In 1991, Townsend was on a BBC Radio show called Desert Island Discs. Her chosen book was Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis. Her luxury item was a swimming pool full of champagne.

Political Views

In 1989, Townsend published Mr Bevan's Dream – Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State. This book was part of a series that looked at the effects of Thatcherism. The book had short, true stories about how the welfare and education systems helped or, more often, failed regular people.

In a 2009 interview, Townsend said she was a "passionate socialist." She supported the history of the Labour party but did not like the "New Labour" party at the time. She said she had only voted Labour once. Her usual choice was a smaller party. A journalist noted in 2008 that Sue's heart was still with the people she grew up with, the people who are not often written about in books.

Health Challenges

Sue Townsend had health problems for many years. She smoked a lot and had tuberculosis (TB) and a heart attack in her 30s. She got diabetes in the 1980s. She struggled with this condition and believed she was the "world's worst diabetic." Because of diabetes, she became legally blind in 2001. She included this experience in her writing.

After her kidneys failed, she had dialysis. In 2009, she received a new kidney from her older son, Sean. She also had arthritis, which meant she needed a wheelchair. By this time, she would tell her stories to Sean, who typed them for her.

Her Passing

Sue Townsend passed away at her home on April 10, 2014. She was 68 years old and died after a stroke. Stephen Mangan, who played Adrian Mole in a TV show, said he was "greatly upset" to hear she had died. He called her "one of the warmest, funniest and wisest people I ever met." Sue Townsend was survived by her husband, four children, and ten grandchildren.

Awards and Honors

Her Books and Plays

Adrian Mole Series

• The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ (1982) – Her most popular book and the best-selling new British fiction book of the 1980s.
• The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984)
• The True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole (1989)
• Adrian Mole: From Minor to Major (1991) – This book combines the first three and includes a special story called Adrian Mole and the Small Amphibians.
• Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years (1993)
• Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years (1999)
• Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction (2004)
• The Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole, 1999–2001 (2008)
• Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years (2009)

Other Novels

• Rebuilding Coventry (1988)
• The Queen and I (1992) – A story about the British Royal Family living a "normal" life in a city neighborhood.
• Ghost Children (1997) – A novel about dealing with difficult feelings and self-worth.
• Number Ten (2002)
• Queen Camilla (2006)
• The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year (2012)

Plays She Wrote

• Womberang (1979)
• The Ghost of Daniel Lambert (1981)
• Dayroom (1981)
• Captain Christmas and the Evil Adults (1982)
• Bazaar and Rummage (1982)
• Groping for Words (1983)
• The Great Celestial Cow (1984)
• The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 133⁄4-The Play (1984)
• Ear Nose and Throat (1988)
• Disneyland It Ain't (1989)
• Ten Tiny Fingers, Nine Tiny Toes (1989)
• The Queen and I (1994)

Non-Fiction Books

• Mr Bevan's Dream: Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State (1989)
• The Public Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman (2001)

See also

In Spanish: Sue Townsend para niños