Voting Station

Norman Bridwell

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Author

The Resume

    (February 15, 1928-December 12, 2014)
    Born in Kokomo, Indiana
    Children's author and illustrator
    Best known for 'Clifford the Big Red Dog' (1963) and its numerous sequels
    Also wrote 'The Witch Next Door' and 'A Tiny Family'

Why he might be annoying:

    He originally planned to be an illustrator for children's books, but he was repeatedly rejected. Eventually, a publisher told him that his drawings were too plain to interest an author, but if he wrote a children's book himself, he might be able to convince a publisher to let him illustrate it as well.
    He originally planned to call Clifford 'Tiny,' but his wife noted 'That was too obvious.'
    When his wife encouraged him to write a 'Clifford' sequel, he replied, 'Oh, no, this is just a fluke.'
    He admitted it was tough to keep the stories fresh as the 'Clifford' series went on: 'Every time I think of an idea, I go, 'Wait, that's kind of like the idea that I did a couple of times before.''

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was married to his wife Norma for 56 years.
    Over 120 million 'Clifford' books have been sold worldwide.
    He said, 'I really don't know why Clifford's appealing to children, but I'm glad he is. I just write what amuses me and hope they like it.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 33 Votes: 6.06% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 159 Votes: 49.06% Annoying