CHILDREN'S AUTHOR GARDINER DIES

Last updated: Friday, March 17, 2006

CHILDREN'S AUTHOR GARDINER DIES

Beloved children's author JOHN REYNOLDS GARDINER has died in hospital following complications from pancreatitis. The STONE FOX creator was 61.

Gardiner, who originally wrote the hit story of a boy named WILLY and his dog SEARCHLIGHT as a screenplay, turned it into a best-selling book on the advice of a producer in 1980.

The tale later gained even greater fame when it was made into an NBC television movie.

Gardiner, who confessed he never read a novel until he was 19, also wrote TOP SECRET and GENERAL BUTTERFINGERS.

KATE JACKSON, head of HarperCollins Children's Books, said, "Children's publishing has lost one of its touchstones.

"Stone Fox was a true modern classic."

| Friday, March 17, 2006

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