Kathleen Hale died in Bristol on 26 January 2000, aged 101. [8] Bibliography [ edit ] Orlando series [ edit ]

Kathleen Hale was part of a very English artistic tradition of mild bohemianism and modest bloodymindedness. "I broke all the rules of decent behaviour," she once said. Her marriage in 1926 to Douglas Maclean, a doctor working in medical research, was unconventional in that it had been suggested by his father, Dr John Maclean, medical superintendent of the London Fever Hospital, whose treatment of Hale for suspected diptheria had led to "a great and loving friendingship". Maclean Sr felt that the gap in their ages was too large to marry her himself. Kathleen Hale was a British children's book author and illustrator, whose most enduring creation is a series of books featuring the adventures of Orlando, a marmalade (red tabby, or 'ginger') cat with a wife called Grace and three kittens — Pansy, Blanche and the mischievous Tinkle. After a childhood in which she showed promise in art, Kathleen spent time in London in the artistic circles of the 1920s, until she married and the family moved in the early 1930s to a large country house in Hertfordshire, where they raised two sons and kept various animals, including cats. David Lewis (12 November 2012). Reading Contemporary Picturebooks: Picturing Text. Routledge. p.143. ISBN 978-1-135-12152-5. In this enchanting tale, Orlando wants to take his wife, Grace, their children Pansy, Blanche and Tinkle to the seaside for a summer holiday. Unfortunately all the hotels and boarding houses are full so he looks as though he is going to have to abandon the idea.

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Orlando - The hero of the series, he is a marmalade-coloured cat with eyes like two green gooseberries. He sometimes keeps his watch on his tail, and later on in the series he is friends with a living magic carpet named Fatima. Orlando (The Marmalade Cat) is the fictional eponymous hero of the series (of the same name) of 19 illustrated children's books written by Kathleen Hale between 1938 and 1972, issued by various publishers including Country Life and Puffin Picture Books. The series involves a marmalade cat (most likely a ginger tabby) named Orlando, and his adventures with his family and wife named Grace. She was the cat's whiskers at a time when illustration was changing its whole nature. She was expert at integrating pictures with the text and paved the way for a new school of illustrator-storytellers, whose current star is Quentin Blake. She married Douglas McClean, a young doctor working in medical research. They settled in Hertfordshire where they could bring up their two young sons and entertain their friends. She created Orlando and his world to entertain her children at bedtime. Orlando The Marmalade Cat 'with eyes like twin gooseberries' was one of the classic children's book characters of the 1940s and 1950s. The stories are known for their quirky wit and extravagant illustrations. They combine adventure with friendship and family life. As the creator of Orlando, Kathleen was awarded the OBE in 1976. She once described herself as someone with a talent for being in the right place at the right time. Bernard Meninsky taught her at the Central School; she became an Augustus John groupie and claimed that his beautiful and taciturn wife, Dorelia, influenced her more than anyone - she remembered Dorelia with an armful of Siamese kittens, and, in her books, the kittens often come in armfuls. Augustus himself makes an appearance as the art master in Orlando's Home Life (1942).

She was constantly sketching the family cats, and their antics gave her ideas for further stories. The horse 'Vulcan' who appears in some was based on a huge Shire horse called 'Prince' that she had had to learn to manage when she was in the Land Army in 1918. Eventually there were 18 books in all, some produced by Country Life and some by other publishers; they have been reprinted numerous times. The last to appear was The Water Cats in 1972. Orlando, the beautiful marmalade cat with eyes like "twin green gooseberries", made his first picture book debut in 1938, to instant acclaim. His adventures grew into a series of eighteen books which, with their exciting, humorous stories and distinctive illustrations full of interesting detail and visual jokes, have become classics of children's literature. They are now reissued in editions that faithfully reproduce the elegant folio format of the originals, to delight a new generations of children and bring nostalgic pleasure to all Orlando's former admirers.Katheleen's marriage to Douglas, a brilliant but depressive man, was semi-detached. Although they had two sons, they kept their interests and friendships separate, hers tending towards the intellectual and the louche. Images and content (whether original or used at Purr 'n' Fur with permission) may NOT be reproduced There are many characters in the Orlando series, many of them minor. Some of the minor characters reappear in different books in the series (for example Mr. Cattermole), while others appear once. Orlando is, of course, a utopian cat who, disliking the world as he finds it, wants to change it. In Orlando Becomes A Doctor, there is a perfect picture of a hospital as it might be. He takes on a French chef to improve his patients' diet; he evolves the ideal cure for the rich, which is to give away half their money to the poor. When you look at him closely, he is terribly alternative. BBC, Oct 1994: listen to Kathleen Hale speaking as a castaway on Desert Island Discs aged 96, following the publication of her book. (For those unfamiliar with this long-running programme's premise and format, see Wikipedia.)

The idea of Orlando came to her in Italy, when she was travelling with her husband. The train had pulled into a country station, and there was a voluminous woman standing behind a table selling lemonade. She called out "Orlando," rolling the Italian vowels. A small boy emerged from under the white tablecloth, with hair the colour of a Seville orange.

Orlando (the Marmalade Cat): His Silver Wedding (1944) - Also known as Orlando's Silver Wedding, this book tells the story of Orlando and Grace's marriage. When Hale was 96, her autobiography, A Slender Reputation, finally appeared. The title was taken from Cedric Morris's query, "Do you mean to tell me Kathleen, that you have hung your slender reputation on the broad shoulders of a eunuch cat?" Her characteristically witty memoir contains an unforgettable account of her employment as Augustus Johns's secretary at the age of 22, where her most arduous duties entailed trawling the King's Road pubs to find the artist, once his aristocratic sitters had arrived.