--- title: Sue Townsend: Adrian Mole Author Dies description: The author's books about suburban teenage life struck a chord with young readers around the world canonical: https://time.com/59554/sue-townsend-adrian-mole-obituary/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-11T16:04:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:16:07.868Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'Adrian Mole' author Sue Townsend dies at 68 og:description: The author's books about suburban teenage life struck a chord with young readers around the world og:url: https://time.com/59554/sue-townsend-adrian-mole-obituary/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0ca1e72c61d5669/69868a3f13c79f148419191f/susan-townsend-dies-adrian-mole.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Sue Townsend, author of the Adrian Mole series, has died at the age of 68. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Adrian Mole' author Sue Townsend dies at 68 twitter:description: The author's books about suburban teenage life struck a chord with young readers around the world twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0ca1e72c61d5669/69868a3f13c79f148419191f/susan-townsend-dies-adrian-mole.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'Adrian Mole' Author Sue Townsend Dies at 68  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Apr 11, 2014 4:04 PM UTC  Sue Townsend, author of the Adrian Mole series, has died at the age of 68. Sue Townsend, author of the Adrian Mole series, has died at the age of 68.Michael Crabtree—PA Wire/Press Association Images/AP  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Apr 11, 2014 4:04 PM UTC Sue Townsend, the British author of the popular _Adrian Mole_ book series, has died, [according to her publisher](http://www.penguin.co.uk/editorial/sue-townsend/index.html) Penguin Books. She was 68 and had suffered a stroke in 2013 before passing away Thursday, the Associated Press reports. Townsend began her writing career as an award-winning playwright before penning the young-adult book series about an angsty teenager named Adrian Mole. The first book in the series, which has been adapted into radio and theater, was published in 1982 and went on to sell more than 20 million copies worldwide. “So sad to hear about Sue Townsend,” [_Harry Potter_ author J.K. Rowling tweeted.](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/454527345383469056) “She gave me so many laughs.” Townsend’s last novel, _The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year_, came out in 2012 and sold half a million copies in the U.K. At the time of her death, she was working on another _Adrian Mole_ book, the [_Telegraph_ reports](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/10759927/Sue-Townsend-writing-new-Adrian-Mole-book-when-she-died.html). “She was loved by generations of readers, not only because she made them laugh out loud, but because her view of the world, its inhabitants and their frailties was so generous, life-affirming and unique,” Penguin Random House UK CEO Tom Weldon said in a statement. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/59554/sue-townsend-adrian-mole-obituary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/59554/sue-townsend-adrian-mole-obituary/"},"headline":"'Adrian Mole' Author Sue Townsend Dies at 68","datePublished":"2014-04-11T16:04:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:16:07.868Z","description":"The author's books about suburban teenage life struck a chord with young readers around the world","url":"https://time.com/59554/sue-townsend-adrian-mole-obituary/","keywords":["Books","J.K. 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