Richard Adams dies

Watership Down author Richard Adams dies aged 96 on Christmas Eve.

20:00 27 December 2016

Richard Adams has “died peacefully” on Christmas Eve, his daughter Juliet Johnson has confirmed.

 

Adams was the author of Watership Down, an award-winning children’s classic about a group of rabbits in search of a new home after their warren was destroyed. The book went on to become a best-seller with tens of millions of copies sold around the world. It was also made into a film in 1978 and won the Carnegie Medal for children’s fiction in 1972.

 

A statement on a website devoted to the book said: "Richard's much-loved family announce with sadness that their dear father, grandfather, and great-grandfather passed away peacefully at 10pm on Christmas Eve."

 

Ms Johnson said that she had a long talk with her father the night before he died.

 

"I assured him that he was much loved, that he had done great work, that many people loved his books," she said.

 

Describing Christmas Eve “rather a magical night”, she added: "It was absolutely typical of Dad that he would choose such a night on which to leave this world."