British writer Tommy Donbavand, author of more than 90 books for children--including the popular Scream Street series--and the comic strip "The Beano," died of cancer May 14, his friend Barry Hutchinson announced on the Tommy V Cancer website: "It saddens me enormously to say that Tommy passed away in hospital this morning. My kind, funny, courageous, ridiculous friend is no longer with us." He was 53.
Donbavand "began blogging about the disease soon after his diagnosis and in 2017 published his entries in a book, Tommy v Cancer: One Man's Battle Against the Big C," the Bookseller reported, adding that in addition to the Scream Street series for Walker, he also wrote for several other publishers, including Macmillan, Barrington Stoke and Badger Learning, among others.
"I was saddened to hear that the incredibly talented and much loved Tommy Donbavand passed away yesterday morning," said Danny Pearson, publisher and senior editor at Badger Learning. "He was a pleasure to work with and one of my favorite authors. He worked on series such as Snow-Man, Time Trek, Once Upon Another Time..., Dark Reads, Between the Lines and Teen Reads. His book, Raven, won Badger its first ever book award. He was one of a kind."
Librarian Dawn Finch tweeted: "Very sad news. The world of children's books has lost one of the good guys. Tommy was an amazing writer and an inspiration. His messages of hope and positivity throughout his battle with cancer were very powerful. Farewell Tommy, much love to your family."
In a tribute posted on downthetubes, John Freeman wrote: "Our sympathies at this time to Tommy's wife and sons. A writer who was determined to fight his illness to the very end, an author who once described sleep as a waste of good writing time, we are so very, very sorry that such an extraordinarily talent is now, through no choice of his own, at rest."