Terry Pratchett OBE, Patron of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, will become Sir Terry in light of his astonishing literary success and tireless campaigning for improved dementia research and care.

The UK’s second most-read author, who has a rare form of Alzheimer’s disease, donated $1 million to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, the country’s leading dementia research charity, earlier in 2008. He played a prominent role in the charity’s campaign to end the severe under-funding of dementia research, culminating in a meeting with the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street in late November.

Rebecca Wood, Chief Executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, said: “Terry promised to ‘scream and harangue’ about dementia research. He did much more than that: he became a voice for the 700,000 people in the UK who live with dementia but cannot shout so loudly. Dementia research is still vastly under-funded, but this is changing thanks to Terry’s incredible work.”

Pratchett’s declaration that he would like to “kick a politician in the teeth” over the treatment of dementia patients did not seem to deter Gordon Brown from meeting the Discworld author. During their meeting in the Cabinet Room, the Prime Minister lavished praise on Pratchett, made him a cup of tea and heard an impassioned plea to fund much more dementia research or face a ‘tsunami’ of Alzheimer’s suffering.

The Knighthood is for services to literature.