Ole Lund Kirkegaard was only 38 years old

By : Jonna Gade

Whatever became of the author of Albert, Gummi Tarzan (Rubber Tarzan) Hodja Fra Pjort (Hojda From Pjort), Lille Virgil (Little Virgil), Otto Er Et Næseborn (Otto is a Rhinoceros), Orla Frøsnapper (Orla Frogsnapper), among others? All Danish children and parents are familiar with the books, the films and the name of the man who both wrote and illustrated these beloved stories, Ole Lund Kirkegaard. Along with, among others, Cecil Bødker and Vita Andersen, he is among the modern artists to create a golden age of children’s literature in Denmark.
   Ole Lund Kirkegaard was born in Århus in 1940. Educated as a teacher, he worked as such in Oue between Hobro and Hadsund. At the same time, he wrote stories and in 1966, when he won a short story competition sponsored by the daily newspaper ‘Politiken,’ his appetite was whetted. In 1967, his first book Little Virgil and Albert were published, which is the basis for a new film.
   Gummi Tarzan, Otto Er Et Næsehorn and Hodja Fra Pjort have already been made into films. The sequence is in line with the quality. Lille Virgil and Frøsnapperen have, like the other books, been performed on the stage.

SILENCE
Ole Lund Kirkegaard is justifiably called Denmark’s Astrid Lindgren. He received the Gyldendal Prize along with many others and his books have been translated into several languages.
   His last work, the illustrated book En Flodhest I Huset (A Hippopotamus in the House), was published in 1978. Then, a grave silence descended over the warm, gentle author who had fun with words but was never, never saccharine. He demonstrated his solidarity with children but was almost entirely unaffected by the New Left wave of the ‘70s.
   On 29 March 1979, a small obituary notice reported that Ole Lund Kirkegaard was dead, only 38 years old. The story of his life is lost in the land of dark shadows.

There are quoted from Ekstra Bladet 9 October 1998, Friday page 2

Translated by Russell Dees