Award-winning author and travel writer Michael de Larrabeiti has died aged 73.
Mr de Larrabeiti, of Tallis House, Great Milton, had suffered from cancer.
For his funeral at Great Milton parish church at 3pm on May 1, he stipulated that people should not wear black. He said he wanted cheerful colours.
Mr de Larrabeiti was born in Battersea, London, in 1934 and had a wide and varied career which included being a library assistant, a film cameraman, a tour guide, a teacher of English in Casablanca and a noted travel writer for The Sunday Times.
He lived for many years in France, the setting for several of his books, and travelled the world for the newspaper.
His first book, Redwater Raid, was a western which featured characters from Great Milton as both the goodies and the baddies. He used characters from the village again in a more recent book, Mayhem in Milton Magna.
His most famous work was The Borribles Trilogy, which was also made into a stage play and a musical.
The original Borribles was named the best book of 1978 by the American Library Association.
Another book, The Bunce, was nominated for a Golden Dagger award and was translated into several languages, including Hungarian.
He married his late wife Celia in 1967, living at first in Little Milton before moving to Great Milton. He is survived by three daughters.
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