We were saddened by news novelist Sue Townsend, died last week (Thursday 10 April) at the age of 68. Sue was honoured in 2003 at the 48th annual Women of the Year Lunch & Awards with a Frink Award, presented by broadcaster Sue MacGregor CBE.
Blinded after suffering from diabetes for many years, Sue achieved worldwide success following the publication of the books about teenager Adrian Mole. The first of her comic series, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, aged 13 3/4, was published in 1982 and the eighth instalment, Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years was released in 2009. Her other best-selling novels included The Queen and I.
On receiving the Frink Award Sue Townsend said: “I have never thought it’s not fair that I’ve gone blind or questioned why it has happened to me, I don’t think you can regret things in life because everything is consequential. Everything matters, everything adds up to the whole.”
The Frink Award, named after Dame Elisabeth Frink, was introduced to honour the achievements of women who had enriched other people’s lives while overcoming problems of their own.
Our thoughts are with the Sue’s family and friends. The Daily Telegraph has a full obituary – Sue Townsend dies aged 68.
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