Netta Ulaby

This is the 100th class of Guggenheim Fellows. They range from a paleontologist studying evolutionary responses to climate change to the best-selling novelist Miranda July. She talked to WHYY's Fresh Air last year about writing all fours, a book hailed as perhaps the first great perimenopause novel. Like if you're hiding the place where you're actually at, then it's hard to get to the next place.

Other Guggenheim fellows include the novelist Jonathan Lethem and artist Theaster Gates, known for making abandoned old houses and buildings his medium. On average, grants range from $40,000 to $55,000. Netta Ulibi, NPR News.

The show, first known as Thomas and Friends, premiered in England in 1984. It was about a cheeky little moon-faced train engine with big, expressive eyes. Britt Allcroft did not invent the character. She based it on a British book series for kids from the 1940s. But Allcroft made Thomas a worldwide phenomenon.

The original narrator was Ringo Starr. The show spun off into movies, toys, and more toys. The brand was bought by Mattel in 2012. Alcroft developed a number of children's shows for British television. Her death was announced on behalf of her family by a friend, Brandon Carty, who'd spent years making a documentary about Thomas the Tank Engine's diehard fans. Netta Ulibi, NPR News.