Norman Bridwell, author who created Clifford the Big Red Dog, dies at 86

Source: New York Times

Norman Bridwell, the creator of Clifford the Big Red Dog, a figure who looms as large in toddler lit as the great white whale does in the American canon, died on Friday in Oak Bluffs, Mass., on Martha’s Vineyard. He was 86.

Kyle Good, a spokeswoman for Scholastic Books, which over the past half-century has published dozens of Clifford titles by Bridwell, confirmed his death without specifying a cause. Bridwell’s wife of 56 years, Norma, told The Associated Press that he had prostate cancer and that he had been in the hospital for three weeks after a fall at his Martha’s Vineyard home in Edgartown.

Bridwell was an out-of-work commercial artist living in New York City when he sold the idea for a single book about a dog big enough for his loving owner, a little girl, to ride. That had been his own fantasy as a little boy, he said.

In the actual drawing of the book, Clifford turned out close to the size of a house. He was an affectionate, slightly clumsy, eager-to-help creature who had flaws — he had a tendency to dig up flowers, among other things — and caused problems. But he was nonetheless the embodiment of kindness and amiability, a four-legged, wet-nosed, bright red lesson in learning to get along with others.

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