Norman Bridwell, Creator of ‘Clifford the Big Red Dog’ Books, Dies at 86

new york times ^ | DEC. 16, 2014 | BRUCE WEBER

[BigEdLB]

He is mourned by all big red dogs, all breeds, both cartoon and living

[SevenofNine]

Hey do you know that that Clifford red dog is now on PBS every morning or afternoon on PBS station

[Mears]

That’s a real cutie.

.

[BigEdLB]

Rufus is unique...

[Morgana]

Big Red Doggie Ping

[katana]

We still tell the story about one of my daughters, age three, at Cedar Point amusement park seeing a large stuffed Clifford doll sitting in the top of one of the park’s trash bins and suddenly yelling at the top of her lungs “Big Red Dog! Big Red Dog!”. We retrieved the toy from the bin and (of course) found that it had a huge hole and was leaking Styrofoam stuffing everywhere. But she had alerted everybody within 100 yards of us that there was what seemed to be a valuable freebie available for the taking. Those were great children’s stories and may the author rest in peace.

[Bettyprob]

Do they still play Clifford The Big Red Dog on PBS? Thought that show was doomed when John Ritter, Clifford’s voice actor, died, which I believe made them shift focus to Clifford’s Puppy Days.

[PCPOET7]

I am trying my hands at writing for children the 8-12 year age group, I hope I can get the enthusiasm for my character’s that your daughter obviously had for Clifford.

[Tax-chick]

without specifying a cause

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest "complications of old age."

[Cicero]

One of my favorites. I think all of our grandchildren have copies. And I read them to all my children, way back when. We probably have a first edition of the first book somewhere around the house.

Prayers for him and his family.

[fulltlt]

I always liked Otto, the big yellow dog books.

[wally_bert]

I saw plenty of episodes pass through on PBS 500 and 501 catching program feeds.

[SevenofNine]

Well I knew they showing John Ritter one for few years on my local PBS station not sure about the Puppy one maybe that something different

[Morgana]

I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest he was an old dog?

Just kidding!

[Tax-chick]

Heh, good one.

[Joe 6-pack]

WOOOF!

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[Monkey Face]

*like*

[SoKatt]

What an absolutely beautiful dog!

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP.