Michael Morpurgo, 81, makes mortality admission as he shares rare health insight: ‘Lucky to have had as long as I have!’

Legendary author Michael Morpurgo, 81, has provided a rare insight into his health and private family life in Devon ahead of the release of his new book, Spring.

Appearing on television on Thursday, the War Horse author shed light on why his new book made him realise just how precious being at one with nature is for him in his later years, but also for the younger members of his family.

Morpurgo has enjoyed a decorated career in the world of literature, with notable titles such as Private Peaceful, The Butterfly Lion, and Kensuke’s Kingdom just a handful that have achieved global success.

But now in his 80s, Morpurgo is keen to encourage people to spend less time behind the screen and more time appreciating the changing seasons and offerings from the natural world.

Writing his new book Spring helped Morpurgo “rediscover” his connection with nature, admitting it could help “keep people happy and sane”.

“Why should our children end up caring about nature if they don’t have firsthand contact with it?” he pondered during Thursday’s BBC Breakfast.

Host Nina Warhurst then weighed in to say that those living in cities still have the opportunity to dive headfirst into nature, despite the obvious changes in their surroundings compared to the country.

“(Opportunities) are there,” Morpurgo agreed before insisting that providing such opportunities to children to get them outdoors is “as important as sitting in a classroom and learning to spell”.

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Touching upon the benefits engaging with nature has had on his health, Morpurgo said: “On this walk I do, for instance, I do almost every single day, mostly for my health but also for nature.

“I was just walking along eight months ago or something and heard a little plop in the river as you do… and I saw the curve of a salmon going down and I just stopped.”

Presenter Ben Thompson turned the conversation down a more sombre avenue, pointing out to Morpurgo that everyone only has a “finite number” of each season.

“We’re all gonna have 80, 90 if we’re lucky… 100. We’ve got to enjoy them while we’re here, haven’t we?” Thompson asked.

Morpurgo dryly quipped about his own mortality in response, saying: “Definitely, and being 81 I’m thinking 90 would be really rather good!”

The remark garnered a chuckle from Thompson before Morpurgo admitted he “grew frustrated” with last year’s Spring due to its gloomy weather, rendering it difficult to enjoy.

However, he turned the discussion back towards mortality as he said: “It does show inside us that darkness of winter… It is true that more of us die in winter, and animals die in winter too, it is the season when we long for the new surge of life in us and then in the plants.

“You see it in the trees, the buds coming, a new lease of life surging up from the trunk and up through the leaves.”

Before the conversation could draw to a close, Morpurgo touched upon his family’s influence on his new book too, and why his one-year-old great-grandson inspired him to tackle Spring in his new book.

“They [his publisher] asked me in about autumn (which season I’d like to cover), and I thought, ‘Well, it’s winter ahead and I know in winter, I’ll be longing for spring!’ It’s also because I’ve got lots of grandchildren and lots of great-grandchildren,” Morpurgo explained.

“It’s this thing of connecting our own stages of life. Shakespeare did it with the Seven Ages of Man, this business of being a man and a teenager… and when you’ve got little children, very small children – I’ve got one great-grandchild of one year old, and you see it begin… that’s spring.

“That’s the wonderful thing about having children if you’re lucky enough to have them, it’s the seeing of the new seasons of growing. And what am I in now? Autumn or winter probably.”

Warhurst then weighed in to suggest watching the younger members of his family grow helps him come to terms with his own ageing process.

“Yes,” Morpurgo candidly responded. “And to have some sort of notion that’s that what happens and helps you come to terms with that’s what life is, and that you’re lucky to have had as long as you’ve had it – I am at least, you know.”