Richard the Bear

In 1982 I started writing letters to a girlfriend, Natasha, about a bear called Richard. Over time, these letters developed into stories and after many failed attempts, a completed novel, ‘Richard the Bear and The Prisoners of Fish’, which I finished in 2006. It is probably unreadable but it was great fun to write.

Richard appeared in person in 1984 in a brown paper bag, brandished by Natasha. He was immediately thrown into the deep end when we made our trip to Nicaragua to make a video about the Sandinista revolution. One night, at the 50th anniversary celebration of the the life of Caesar Augusto Sandino (think Sandinistas), Richard actually met the president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega. There was a lot of rum involved, if I remember correctly.

Today, Richard the Bear runs a detective agency in Shrewsbury with his lifelong friend, Osmond the Pig Junior and his industrious and highly capable personal assistant, Bonhomina Sattersthwaite.