If you could kindly pass this along to Mr. Longden, I would appreciate it. Many thanks.

Dear Mr. Longden,

Thank you so much for the wonderful stories you've written. I discovered your cat books when I was in my early 20s, and I have savored every one as I read them. Over the years, I have had the pleasure of introducing these books to other cat lovers in my life. My 9 year old step-daughter, Isabelle, insists on having a chapter read to her every night at bedtime. It's such a delight to hear her giggling over Thermal's antics, and it has really spurred her imagination in relation to our own feline companions. She often tells stories about Thief and Moonlight's adventures, which have evolved from the oral tradition into the written tradition by way of her classwork in school.

I read the article in the Examiner last month and was saddened to hear of your health problems. Please know that prayers, warm thoughts, and gratitude are coming your way from our neck of the woods.

With warm regards,

Amanda Stetka
Barto, Pennsylvania, USA

Dear Mr. Longden,



I was introduced to your books by my English teacher Paul Fox when I was eleven. The class read The Cat Who Came in from the Cold together, taking it in turns to read a page each out loud. Several years later I was given a signed copy for Christmas and consider it one of my prize possessions.



I recently realised that I had missed out on a number of your books and so took steps to rectify the situation immediately. Over the course of about a month I devoured everything from Diana's Story to Paws in the Proceedings. (I decided that I had possibly over done it slightly when on a train I saw a bag in the luggage rack that had crumpled into the shape of a rather mournful looking face, and spent the rest of the journey making up scenarios about why it was so upset. I now find myself anthropomorphising many objects I see!)



I just wanted to send a quick message to let you know how much joy your books have given me. I know of no other author who can make me laugh, come very close to (extremely manly, obviously) tears, and then laugh again all in the space of a single page. I do not often re-read books as there are always so many new ones clambering for my attention, but I shall revisit yours with great frequency.



Thank you again,



Yours sincerely,



David Spragg.

I discovered Derics books when I was staying in a rather ropey BnB many years ago when I started reading a copy of lost for words which had been left in the room which I was staying in , I had to "borrow" the book when I left...since then I have read them over and over and I am on my second set of paperbacks having lent them to many member of my family and friends........
I am so sad to hear of his illness and it almost feels like a long lost uncle is poorly rather than a favourite author as he has shared so much of himself and his family in his books I feel I know him so well
I wrote to him once and he thanked me for finding him in that romm and sent me a lovely postcard handwritten which I shall treasure.
Thank you Deric for sharing your life, loves and cats with us xxx

Claire Martin coventry

Annie’s Step Father the writer, broadcaster Deric Longden



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/books-obituaries/10160973/Deric-Longden.html



Deric Longden

Deric Longden, who has died aged 76, wrote books that brought a gentle and life-enhancing humour to the problems of living with disability.



Deric Longden

7:24PM BST 04 Jul 2013

His first book, Diana’s Story (1989), was a moving account of his life with his first wife, whom he had married in 1957 and who later developed a mysterious illness which was eventually diagnosed as a virulent and painful form of ME. Longden cared for her devotedly for 15 years until her death in 1985.

His book became an immediate bestseller and was later adapted into a BBC drama, Wide-Eyed And Legless (1994). Longden co-wrote the screenplay with Jack Rosenthal, while Julie Walters played Diana and Jim Broadbent took the part of Longden himself.

Diana’s Story was followed by Lost for Words (1991), describing life with his elderly mother as she gradually lost her memory. This too was successfully adapted for the small screen by Longden, with Pete Postlethwaite as the dutiful son to Thora Hird’s portrayal of the eccentric and courageous Annie Longden.

Longden once observed: “I really feel the best humour comes out of despair.” Lost For Words opens with Deric asking: “Do you want to be buried Mum, or shall we have you cremated?” Annie Longden: “Oh, I don’t know, luv. Surprise me.” In another scene, Thora Hird is in hospital when a woman winces with pain as she is pushed past in a wheelchair. “Renal colic,” she says to Thora by way of explanation. “Annie Longden,” replies Thora. “Pleased to meet you.” Thora Hird then whispers to Postlethwaite: “She must be French with a name like that.”

Lost For Words, screened in January 1999, won the Emmy for best foreign drama and a Bafta for Thora Hird as best actress.

Longden was inspired to write his first books by the historical novelist Aileen Armitage, a divorcee with four children who became his second wife in 1990. They had first met in 1984 at a writers’ conference, and he did not realise she was blind (she had lost her sight in the 1960s) until she stubbed out her cigarette in a sugar bowl.

At the conference they discussed writing a television script together about disability, with Diana at the heart of the story. Aileen and Diana became devoted friends, notwithstanding the evident attraction Longden and Aileen felt for one another; indeed, Diana hoped that they would marry after her death.

Deric Longden was born at Chesterfield on November 29 1936. His father died when his son was in infancy, and Deric was brought up by his mother, Annie. Having failed the 11-plus and his O-levels, he worked as a clerk in a colliery at Bolsover.

Thinking he could compete with Janet Reger, Longden then ran a small women’s lingerie factory at Matlock, Derbyshire. In 1974 he decided to enter a BBC Radio Derby 500-word short story competition, under the name “Biro”. He won, and the following year entered under the nom de plume “Papermate”, winning again. When the next year he went for the hat-trick, the producer telephoned him and asked: “Are you by chance 'Parker 51’?” Longden agreed that he was, and was offered a job. He broadcast on BBC Radio Derby, and also supplied jokes for Les Dawson and the Two Ronnies.

Diana’s progressive illness eventually forced him to sell the lingerie factory, in 1984, and thereafter he concentrated on his writing and broadcasting career. He wrote regularly for programmes such as Does He Take Sugar? (which addressed the issues surrounding disability) and Woman’s Hour.

Following the success of Diana’s Story and Lost for Words, Longden published a series of books describing his life with Aileen Armitage and their cats, among them The Cat Who Came in from the Cold; I’m a Stranger Here Myself; Enough to Make a Cat Laugh; and Paws in the Proceedings.

Deric Longden, who had been suffering from cancer, is survived by Aileen Armitage, by a daughter and son of his marriage to Diana, and by four stepchildren.

Deric Longden, born November 29 1936, died June 23 2013