Laurent de Brunhoff, 'Babar the Elephant' author, died

It's sad news, and hard to believe that someone who started drawing the stories before WW2 was still alive.

But he didn't create Babar. His father did. Laurent took it over from his father, who died young.

This is a thing in successful cartoon series.

When Roger Hargreaves, creator of the Mr Men series, died at just 53 in 1988, his son Adam Hargreaves took over writing and drawing the series.

When Dik Browne, creator of Hagar the Horrible, died at 71 in 1989, his son Chris Browne took over writing and drawing the strip until his own death last year at 70.

In the early 60's he stayed at a hotel that my grandfather managed in NYC. He drew and dedicated a Babar picture for my mother and each of her sisters, 4 in total. I inherited one of them from my aunt who is my namesake Roberta --> Robert. It has been my most prized possession for a long time.