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1916-1993
Kenneth George Bird was born in Gloucester in 1916. He left school at the age of 14 to pursue a career in journalism and worked on numerous local newspapers around the West Midlands, including the Wolverhampton Express & Star.
After his service with the RAF during the Second World War, he returned to newspaper journalism but also began writing plays for BBC Radio 4. He became an information officer for the BBC based at Pebble Mill in Birmingham and in the 1960's had a number of thrillers published, including The Bishop must move, Mozart's fiddle, The rainbow coloured hearse and Murder in vision. A number of his stories drew on his extensive knowledge of the media world that he obtained during his twenty-five years at the BBC. He also played an important role in reshaping the radio series, The Archers, when he was asked to write a report on how it was perceived by the public. The report was widely credited with helping to modernise the soap's plot lines and making it a more realistic representation of modern life. He also wrote Pierpoint house, a successful Radio 4 play, and his short stories were regularly featured on the morning story section of Radio 4.
In the 1970's Bird moved to Ludlow, Shropshire, where he returned to his first love - newspapers. He became the editor of the Ludlow Advertiser and two other titles in Herefordshire. He also wrote 13 children's books about an Irish talking dog called Himself, the series was printed around the world.
The first thirteen of these books were illustrated by one of his sons, Adrian Bird. However, despite this creative talent, Adrian did not follow his father into the media but instead entered academia and is presently the Buchanan Professor of Genetics at Edinburgh University.
Kenneth moved with his family to Church Stretton, Shropshire, in 1979 to retire. He died in 1993 at the age of 77, leaving behind his wife Joan Throssell, a fellow journalist from Birmingham who had been women's editor on the Birmingham Post and Mail, and two children, both of whom followed him into the media world. He also had three children from his first marriage, when he lived in Stourbridge.
Bird had briefly flirted with national newspaper journalism on Fleet Street, but returned to the West Midlands, an area he always viewed as home. He was a keen walker and would work on his plots while walking in the Shropshire hills. He viewed himself as very fortunate to witness the exciting developments in the world of television during his time at BBC's Pebble Mill. The characters he met at the BBC and stories he covered as a newspaper journalist in the West Midlands provided a wealth of inspiration for his books and radio plays.
© Steve Bird, 2002
Books marked with an asterisk (*) are available in the West Midlands Creative Literature Collection:-
The Bishop must move
Mozart' fiddle
The rainbow coloured hearse
Murder in vision
A dog called Himself
Himself and Macafferty' queen* (1969)
Stardom for Himself * (1970)
Himself and Whistler' niece * (1974)
Himself and the Rooney Rebellion * (1975)
Himself and the Kerry Crusher * (1976)
Himself beats the Bill * (1977)
Himself and the fake Santas * (1978)
Page created 7 June 2002 and last updated 28 October 2002
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