Peter Lustig

Peter Fritz Willi Lustig (27 October 1937 – 23 February 2016) was a German television presenter and author of children's books who has become especially well known as leading actor in the weekly children's television show Löwenzahn (which he hosted from 1979 up until 2006; during its first year the show was still called Pusteblume). He also appeared on the shows Mittendrin (1987–95) and Gordos Reise ans Ende der Welt (2007).Lustig originally qualified as a broadcast engineer and an electronics engineer before becoming a television host and actor. Working for American Forces Network as a radio engineer in 1963, he was responsible for the recording of US President John F. Kennedy's speech Ich bin ein Berliner held in Berlin. He often ended an episode of the show Löwenzahn (where he explained various phenomena of science and nature to children) with a proposal to turn off the TV now with his famous hand turning gesture, as if he was turning off an old TV. His show persona always wore characteristic blue dungarees and lived in a wooden building site cabin in fictitious Bärstadt ("Beartown"). Since the 1980s Lustig was a follower of Osho. Lustig's books include the science comic Wie funktioniert ein Auto? ("How does a car work?") (1983) on the working principles of automobiles, the two-volume handicraft book Peter Lustigs Bastelbuch ("Peter Lustig's Book of Handicraft") (1985 and 1987), and the children's cookbook Kochbuch für kleine Feinschmecker ("Cookbook for little gourmets") (1992). He also authored Vertonen: Der Ton zu den Bildern ("Set to music: The Soundtrack to the Images") (1987), a book on post-recording of soundtracks for films and slideshows, and Lieber Momme: Wunderliche Briefe ("Beloved Momme: Strange Letters") (1989), a book made up of letters he wrote to his young son from hospital, where Peter Lustig stayed many times throughout the 1980s due to lung cancer surgery. Lustig's second wife, British-Austrian children's author and fellow follower of Osho Elfie Donnelly, published the book Peters Flucht ("Peter's escape") (1986) about the 8-year-old Lustig's escape with his family from the city of Breslau (modern-day Wrocław) in 1945. He died on 23 February 2016 at the age of 78 at his home in Bohmstedt near Husum surrounded by his family. He is survived by four children and nine grandchildren.