Who is the Best Bear?

47 Replies

I’ve been struggling today – having written over a thousand words and deleted most of them. The remaining fragment is saved as a draft and may never be published, which is ironic when you consider the subject is publication.

The trouble is that I kept getting bogged down with the misery of a serious intro.

So I’m now just going to get straight to the point.

The subject is bears, specifically which is the best bear, with a digression into bears that might have been,

Our bear, as seen in the picture, is Farmer Ted. He’s a bear known to only a few, though he is an excellent fellow and sound on rural matters.

His main competition comes from Rupert, Winnie the Pooh, Paddington and Yogi. I’m also fond of the Bulgy Bears, though they aren’t as well known as the rest. Number Two son has just nominated the three bears of Goldilocks fame, Kung Fu Panda and Bear in the Big Blue House. I’ve also just thought of Aloysius from Brideshead. Even better, I actually remembered how to spell it.

So, first question, who is your favourite bear?

My second question is – who else do you think wasted their talents instead of writing about bears?

If T S  Eliot had concentrated on his lighter side and produced a bear book instead of messing about with the Four Quartets he could have been onto something. He did alright with cats so I don’t see why not.

There’s also Barrie, Grahame, Sassoon, Gavin Maxwell…

Memoirs of a Bear Hunting Man would have been a much fairer contest and Ring of Bright Water would not have ended well for the man with the shovel.

Bear of the Baskervilles anyone?

 

47 thoughts on “Who is the Best Bear?”

  1. Pingback: Wednesday 8th July Part V | quercuscommunity

  2. myfoodhunt

    So many to remember!
    As a child it was probably Rupert as I liked that there were cartoon pictures I could understand and then actual words in the book that Mum and Dad read 🙂

    I liked Yogi bear, but now thinking about it Boo Boo was the voice of reason in Yellowstone park, so he needs a shout out

    After that Biffo the Bear from the beano needs a mention

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    1. quercuscommunity

      I never thought that Biffo looked much like a bear, to be honest, though I will note your nomination. 🙂

      I’d forgotten Boo Boo,

      Like you Rupert was my first literary bear (and, at the risk of making myself sound ancient, the books were the paper cover economy annuals from the war that had belonged to my mother and aunts).

      Ah, memories…

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  6. The Snail of Happiness

    As a child I loved Mary Plain, but apparently it’s no longer politically correct.
    Mr Snail has a bear called Auguste – we bought him for Mr Snail’s dad for his 70th birthday. When he passed away, Auguste came back to live with us. He’s a white Vermont Teddy Bear with a talent for cooking (he has his own chef’s whites)

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  8. arlingwoman

    I like your bear. My favorite bear is Fuzzy Wuzzy, who was my first bear and named after a bear on Captain Kangaroo, about whom a song was often sung. After that, there’s Yogi, Baloo, Winnie, and really there should be a bear in the Wind in the Willows, but…there’s Smokey, too, and Teddy…

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      1. arlingwoman

        Fuzzy Fuzzy was a bear/Fuzzy Fuzzy had no hair/ Fuzzy Fuzzy wasn’t fuzzy, was he? Might have had mange, but my bear, though worn in places has blond fur…

  10. Lavinia Ross

    Favorite bear? That is a hard one. I still have Mr. and Mrs. Bear. Mr. Bear came attached to a box of chocolates long ago. We had to find him a Mrs. Bear in a toy shop. She wears a dress and a pink hat. They sit together in a small basket, passing the years.

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  11. tootlepedal

    Pooh, I think. I have always identified with him being a bear of very little brain myself. As far as T S Eliot goes, I cannot disagree more. A very fine writer and a great influence on me as a boy.

    Now of only Rupert Murdoch had taken the hint from his name and stuck to writing about bears instead of publishing so called newspapers, the world would be a better place.

    Reply ↓
    1. quercuscommunity

      The world’s gain would have been balanced by Nutwood’s loss, which would be a heavy price to pay.

      If I come to power I will offer you the Ministerial Portfolio for Time Travel so you can go back in time and sterilise the parents of some of the bigger blots of our times.

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  12. escapetothebarn

    My favourite bear is one of my own bears, aptly named, Old Bear, he was my brothers bear and I just ended up with him because my brother grew up. He is a bit dogeared, has a few stitches around the armpits and smells a bit, but he’s definitely my favourite bear (and the kids aren’t allowed anywhere near him).

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  13. escapetothebarn

    My favourite bear is my bear, aptly named, Old Bear, he was my brothers bear and I just ended up with him when my brother got older. He’s a bit dogeared and smells a bit, but still, Old Bear is definitely the best (and the kids aren’t allowed anywhere near him :))

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      1. Laurie Graves

        See how your blogging friends alert you to exciting new things, such as bears? 😉

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