The author of Watership Down, Richard Adams, has died aged 96, his daughter has said.
Juliet Johnson said her father had been "ailing for some time" but "died peacefully" on Christmas Eve.
Watership Down, a children's classic about a group of rabbits in search of a new home after their warren was destroyed, was first published in 1972.
Adams was 52 when he wrote it, after first telling the story to his two daughters on a long car journey.
It went on to become a best-seller, with tens of millions of copies bought around the world.
'Magical night'
Mrs Johnson told BBC Radio 4 she had a "long talk" with her father on the night before he died.
"I assured him that he was much loved, that he had done great work, that many people loved his books," she said.
She said an upcoming adaptation, which is due to air on the BBC next year, gave Adams "great composure and comfort".
Describing Christmas Eve a "rather a magical night", she said: "It's the night that traditionally the animals and birds can talk.
"It was absolutely typical of Dad that he would choose such a night on which to leave this world."
'Cherished book'
Adams, a former civil servant from Newbury in Berkshire, also wrote Shardik, The Plague Dogs and The Girl in a Swing.
The book won the Carnegie Medal for children's fiction in 1972, the year of publication.
A statement on a website devoted to the book said: "Richard's much-loved family announce with sadness that their dear father, grandfather, and great-grandfather passed away peacefully at 10pm on Christmas Eve."
His death was marked with a passage from his best-known work.
"It seemed to Hazel that he would not be needing his body any more, so he left it lying on the edge of the ditch, but stopped for a moment to watch his rabbits and to try to get used to the extraordinary feeling that strength and speed were flowing inexhaustibly out of him into their sleek young bodies and healthy senses.
"You needn't worry about them," said his companion. "They'll be alright - and thousands like them."
Adams, a World War Two veteran, was head of animal welfare charity the RSPCA for a short spell.
more @ http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-38446309
Juliet Johnson said her father had been "ailing for some time" but "died peacefully" on Christmas Eve.
Watership Down, a children's classic about a group of rabbits in search of a new home after their warren was destroyed, was first published in 1972.
Adams was 52 when he wrote it, after first telling the story to his two daughters on a long car journey.
It went on to become a best-seller, with tens of millions of copies bought around the world.
'Magical night'
Mrs Johnson told BBC Radio 4 she had a "long talk" with her father on the night before he died.
"I assured him that he was much loved, that he had done great work, that many people loved his books," she said.
She said an upcoming adaptation, which is due to air on the BBC next year, gave Adams "great composure and comfort".
Describing Christmas Eve a "rather a magical night", she said: "It's the night that traditionally the animals and birds can talk.
"It was absolutely typical of Dad that he would choose such a night on which to leave this world."
'Cherished book'
Adams, a former civil servant from Newbury in Berkshire, also wrote Shardik, The Plague Dogs and The Girl in a Swing.
The book won the Carnegie Medal for children's fiction in 1972, the year of publication.
A statement on a website devoted to the book said: "Richard's much-loved family announce with sadness that their dear father, grandfather, and great-grandfather passed away peacefully at 10pm on Christmas Eve."
His death was marked with a passage from his best-known work.
"It seemed to Hazel that he would not be needing his body any more, so he left it lying on the edge of the ditch, but stopped for a moment to watch his rabbits and to try to get used to the extraordinary feeling that strength and speed were flowing inexhaustibly out of him into their sleek young bodies and healthy senses.
"You needn't worry about them," said his companion. "They'll be alright - and thousands like them."
Adams, a World War Two veteran, was head of animal welfare charity the RSPCA for a short spell.
more @ http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-38446309