Dick King-Smith

Dick King-Smith
Born	Ronald Gordon King-Smith 27 March 1922(1922-03-27) Bitton, Gloucestershire, England, UK
Died	4 January 2011(2011-01-04) (aged 88) Bath, Somerset, England, UK
Pen name	Dick King-Smith
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	British
Ethnicity	White British
Period	1978-2007
Spouse(s)	Myrle (m. 1943–2000) «start: (1943)–end+1: (2001)»"Marriage: Myrle to Dick King-Smith" Location: (linkback://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_King-Smith) Zona Bedding (m. 2001–2011) «start: (2001)–end+1: (2012)»"Marriage: Zona Bedding to Dick King-Smith" Location: (linkback://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_King-Smith)

Ronald Gordon King-Smith OBE, Hon.M.Ed. (27 March 1922 – 4 January 2011),^[1] better known by his pen name Dick King-Smith, was a prolific English children's author, best known for writing The Sheep-Pig, retitled in the United States as Babe the Gallant Pig, on which the movie Babe was based. He was awarded an Honorary Master of Education degree by the University of the West of England in 1999^[2] and appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours.^[3][4]

Life

King-Smith grew up in the West Country, where his family ran several paper mills, and was educated at Beaudesert Park School and Marlborough College.^[1] King-Smith was a soldier in World War II, serving with the Grenadier Guards in Italy and a farmer for 20 years before he became a teacher and author. King-Smith's first book was The Fox Busters, published in 1978. He was one of Britain's most prolific authors and wrote over a hundred books, which have been translated into twelve languages. In later life he lived in Queen Charlton, a small farming village near Bristol, contributing to the maintenance and conservation of the local area as the vice-president of the Avon Wildlife Trust. He married his first wife, Myrle, in 1943. They had 3 children and 12 grandchildren.^[1] Myrle died in 2000, and King-Smith subsequently married Zona Bedding, a family friend.^[5]

He had many pets including rats, mice, ornamental pheasants, dachshunds, geese and guinea fowl, and bred guinea pigs and English rabbits.^{[citation needed]}

He presented a feature on animals on TV-AM's children's programme Rub a Dub Dub.^[6] and also appeared regularly (in a similar capacity) on the similarly named Saturday morning TV series Rub-a-Dub Tub (1983).^[7]

King-Smith died peacefully at his home near Bath, Somerset, on 4 January 2011 at the age of 88.^[8]

Bibliography

• The Fox Busters (1978)
• Daggie Dogfoot retitled in the US as Pigs Might Fly (1980)
• Magnus Powermouse (1982)
• The Queen's Nose (1983)
• The Sheep-Pig (1983)
• Saddlebottom (1985)
• Noah's Brother (1986)
• The Hodgeheg (1987)
• Tumbleweed (1987)
• Farmer Bungle Forgets (1987)
• Friends and Brothers (1987)
• Cuckoobush Farm (1987)
• George Speaks (1988)
• The Mouse Butcher (1988)
• Emily's Legs (1988)
• Water Watch (1988)
• Dodo Comes to Tumbledown Farm (1988)
• Tumbledown Farm - The Greatest (1988)
• The Jenius (1988)
• Ace (1990)
• Sophie
  • Sophie's Snail (1988)
  • Sophie's Tom (1991)
  • Sophie Hits Six (1991)
  • Sophie in the Saddle (1993)
  • Sophie Is Seven (1994)
  • Sophie's Lucky (1995)
• Alice And Flower And Foxianna (1989)
• Beware of the Bull (1989)
• The Toby Man (1989)
• Dodos Are Forever (1989)
• The Trouble with Edward (1989)
• Jungle Jingles (1990)
• Blessu (1990)
• Hogsel and Gruntel (1990)
• Paddy's Pot of Gold (1990)
• Alphabeasts (1990)
• The Water Horse (1990)
• The Whistling Piglet (1990)
  • The Jolly Witch (1990)
  • Mrs. Jollipop (1996)
  • Mrs. Jolly's Brolly (1998)
• The Cuckoo Child (1991)
• The Guard Dog (1991)
• Martin's Mice (1991)
• Lightning Strikes Twice (1991)
• Caruso's Cool Cats (1991)
• Dick King-Smith's Triffic Pig Book (1991)
• Find the White Horse (1991)
• Horace and Maurice (1991)
• Lady Daisy (1992)
• Pretty Polly (1992)
• Dick King-Smith's Water Watch (1992)
• The Finger Eater (1992)
• The Ghost At Codlin Castle And Other Stories (1992)
• Super Terrific Pigs (1992)
• The Invisible Dog (1993)
• All Pigs Are Beautiful (1993)
• The Merrythought (1993)
• The Swoose (1993)
• Uncle Bumpo (1993)
• Dragon Boy (1993)
• Horse Pie (1993)
• Harry's Mad (1993)
• Connie and Rollo (1994)
• The School Mouse (1994)
• Triffic: A Rare Pig's Tale (1994)
• Mr. Potter's Pet (1994)
• Harriet's Hare (1994)
• The Excitement of Being Ernest (1994)
• I Love Guinea Pigs (1994)
• Three Terrible Trins (1994)
• Happy Mouseday (1994)
• Bobby the Bad (1994)
• The Clockwork Mouse (1995)
• King Max the Last (1995)
• Omnibombulator (1995)
• The Terrible Trins (1995)
• Warlock Watson (1995)
• All Because of Jackson (1995)
• The Stray (1996)
• Clever Duck (1996)
• Dirty Gertie Macintosh (1996)
• Smasher (1996)
• Godhanger (1996)
• Treasure Trove (1996)
• Mixed-up Max (1997)
• What Sadie Saw (1997)
• The Spotty Pig (1997)
• A Mouse Called Wolf (1997)
• Robin Hood And His Miserable Men (1997)
• Thinderella (1997)
• Puppy Love (1997)
• The Merman (1997)
• Round About 5 (1997)
• Mr Ape (1998)
• How Green Was My Mouse (1998)
• The Big Pig Book (1998)
• Creepy Creatures Bag (1998)
• The Robber Boy (1998)
• The Crowstarver (1998)
• Pig in the City (1999)
• Poppet (1999)
• The Roundhill (2000)
• Spider Sparrow (2000)
• Just in Time (2000)
• The Magic Carpet Slippers (2000)
• Julius Caesar's Goat (2000)
• Mysterious Miss Slade (2000)
• Billy the Bird (2000)
• Lady Lollipop (2000)
• Back to Front Benjy (2001)
• The Great Sloth Race (2001)
• Fat Lawrence (2001)
• Funny Frank (2001)
• Chewing The Cud (Autobiography) (2001)
• Titus Rules! (2002)
• Billy the Bird / All Because of Jackson (2002)
• Story Box (2002)
• The Golden Goose (2003)
• Traffic (2003)
• Clever Lollipop (2003)
• The Adventurous Snail (2003)
• The Nine Lives of Aristotle (2003)
• Aristotle (2003)
• Just Binnie (2004)
• The Catlady (2004)
• Under the Mishmash Trees (2005)
• Hairy Hezekiah (2005)
• Dinosaur Trouble (2005)
• Nosy (2005)
• The Mouse Family Robinson (2007)

Adaptations

• Harry's Mad (1993–1996): TV series based on Harry's Mad
• The Queen's Nose (1995–2003): TV Series based on The Queen's Nose
• Babe (1995): film based on The Sheep-Pig a.k.a. Babe, the Gallant Pig
• Babe: Pig in the City (1998): film sequel using King-Smith characters
• The Foxbusters (1999–2000): TV cartoon loosely based on The Fox Busters
• The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (2007): film based on The Water Horse

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Eccleshare, Julia (5 January 2011). "Dick King-Smith obituary". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jan/05/dick-king-smith-obituary. 
2. ^ "Honorary Graduates of the University of the West of England". University of the West of England. http://acreg.uwe.ac.uk/hgotuotwoe.asp. Retrieved 5 January 2011. 
3. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 59282. p. 12. 31 December 2009.
4. ^ "Patrick Stewart leads arts honours with a knighthood". BBC News. 2009-12-31. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8434903.stm. Retrieved 2011-01-05. 
5. ^ "Animal Magic". Heraldscotland.com. 2008-02-02. http://www.heraldscotland.com/animal-magic-1.835686. Retrieved 2011-01-05. 
6. ^ "Dick King-Smith". Telegraph. 1922-03-27. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/books-obituaries/8241911/Dick-King-Smith.html. Retrieved 2011-01-06. 
7. ^ "Rub-a-Dub-Tub". imdb. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375430/. Retrieved 2011-10-15. 
8. ^ "BBC News - Babe creator Dick King-Smith dies aged 88". Bbc.co.uk. 2011-01-05. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12121506. Retrieved 2011-01-06. 

External links

• Dick King-Smith Biography and Interview Author Biography, Puffin
• Dick King-Smith Bibliography, Bookseller World
• Dick King-Smith, Fantastic Fiction (including photo and book covers)
• Dick King-Smith at the Internet Movie Database
• Birthname per Electoral Roll and company director reports

Persondata
Name	Kingsmith, Dick
Alternative names	Ronald Gordon King-Smith
Short description	British children's writer
Date of birth	27 March 1922
Place of birth	Bitton, Gloucestershire, Great Britain
Date of death	4 January 2011
Place of death	Somerset, Great Britain