You go away for one day, and return to find the man inadvertently responsible for Bosco has died. Ta se ana ufasach ar fad.
As most of you will be aware, puppet master and ventriloquist extraordinaire, Eugene Lambert, died suddenly at the age of 82 on Monday night at his Monkstown home. He is survived by his wife, Mai (to which he was married almost 60 years), and "eight of their ten children."
The Sligo native brought much joy into my childhood thanks to his work on Wanderley Wagon - a fantastical story set in a MASSIVE flying caravan inhabited by himself (as O'Brien), Godmother, Judge (the original voice of reason in canine form. He even managed to teach many a 70's baby/early 80's child to cross the road safely), Mr. Crow, Foxy, and a few amiable attic dwelling rodents with lofty ambitions.
Naturally, they had many strange sorts habitually visiting them, a favourite being Forty Coats and his magical air born sweetshop (who, if you recall, got his own spin off show [which Lambert wasn't too fond of by all accounts. He saw it as a rip off of Wagon] - with Slightly Bonkers, Sofar Sogood, and Whilomena the Whirligig Witch - who, due to our similar colouring, was obviously my mother according to several gingerists in my kindergarten class), Maeve the witch who was a bit rubbish, and Frank Kelly in different guises. To this day, I still recall night terrors involving his Sneaky Snake and Dr. Astro.
One of the few ministers left in the Dail, that being the one for Arts, Sports and Tourism - Martin Cullen - paid tribute to the children's entertainer, describing him as "a master of the art of puppetry... he enriched the lives of both adults and children."