Sue Townsend

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FILE - An Oct. 1, 1999 photo from files showing British comic author Sue Townsend. The author, the creator of teenage angst-ridden Adrian Mole, has died after suffering a stroke. She was 68. Penguin Books confirmed Friday that Townsend died in Leicester, central England, a day earlier. Her first novel, "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾," was published in 1982 and was hailed as a comic masterpiece. Written in the voice of a gauche but observant teenager, it combined the acute awkwardness of adolescence with insight into the politics and culture of Thatcher-era Britain. (AP Photo/PA, Michael Crabtree) UNITED KINGDOM OUT NO SALES NO ARCHIVE