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The Citizen
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Citizen
Forsyth leaves big void
His stories often imitated his own life Master thriller writer Frederick Forsyth died last week. Many readers of a certain age will remember him for stories like The Day of the Jackal and The Odessa File. He wrote many other stories of course, all as successful, becoming one of those rare authors who was able to make two fortunes in one lifetime – after losing the first to his financial advisor. Forsyth, who had no pretensions about his writing – he wrote to make a living as all the best ones do – never strayed too far from his journalistic roots. He had incredible sources, went into the field to do his research and put in the hard yards in front of his typewriter. Forsyth's stories His stories often imitated his own life. In his 2015 memoir The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue, he admitted that he had done work for British intelligence. Much has been written since last week about assignations, à la James Bond with a sultry Czech agent, but not much about his role in this country, in particular, just before the transition to democracy in 1994. The British, like the Americans, were very curious about what would happen to the six nuclear bombs that the apartheid regime had built from the 1970s onwards. ALSO READ: Eddie Redmayne confirms second season of hit series 'The Day of The Jackal' [VIDEO] Forsyth's relationship with foreign minister Forsyth, who had developed a convivial relationship over the years with then foreign minister Pik Botha, was sent out in the South African winter of 1992, so tensibly on a hunting trip to the Kalahari with his two sons, when the British discovered that Botha would be spending part of the parliamentary recess shooting there. Booked into the same lodge, their paths would cross at meal times, until finally, on the last night around the braai, Forsyth broached the question as off-handedly as he could. 'Freddie,' laughed Botha, 'you can tell your government we are going to destroy the lot.' Botha had known precisely why Forsyth was there and made full use of the opportunity to send a very important message back to London. His work As a writer, Forsyth's work was often a case of life imitating art; Simon Mann's ill-fated Wonga coup to Equatorial Guinea felt like something straight out of The Dogs of War, which is, ironically, where Forsyth had set the novel, while the Jackal became the nom de guerre of the most infamous terrorist of his day, Ilich Ramírez Sánchez. They don't make writers like Forsyth anymore. We're all the poorer for that. NOW READ: Eddie Redmayne mesmerises in 'The Day of the Jackal'
Express Tribune
10-06-2025
- Express Tribune
Day of the Jackal' author Frederick Forsyth dies at 86
A pilot who turned to writing to clear his debts, British author Frederick Forsyth, who died Monday aged 86, penned some 20 spy novels, often drawing on real-life experiences and selling 70 million copies worldwide. In such bestsellers as The Day of the Jackal and The Odessa File, Forsyth honed a distinctive style of deeply researched and precise espionage thrillers involving power games between mercenaries, spies and scoundrels. For inspiration he drew on his own globe-trotting life, including an early stint as a foreign correspondent and assisting Britain's spy service on missions in Nigeria, South Africa, and the former East Germany and Rhodesia. "The research was the big parallel: as a foreign correspondent you are probing, asking questions, trying to find out what's going on, and probably being lied to," he told The Bookseller magazine in 2015. "Working on a novel is much the same... essentially it's a very extended report about something that never happened — but might have." Dangerous research He wrote his first novel when he was 31, on a break from reporting and in dire need of money to fund his wanderlust. Having returned "from an African war, and stony broke as usual, with no job and no chance of one, I hit on the idea of writing a novel to clear my debts," he said in his autobiography The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue published in 2015. "There are several ways of making quick money, but in the general list, writing a novel rates well below robbing a bank." But Forsyth's foray came good. Taking just 35 days to pen The Day of the Jackal, his story of a fictional assassination attempt on French president Charles de Gaulle by right-wing extremists, met immediate success when it appeared in 1971. The novel was later turned into a film and provided self-styled revolutionary Carlos the Jackal with his nickname. Forsyth went on to write a string of bestsellers including The Odessa File (1972) and The Dogs of War (1974). His eighteenth novel, The Fox, was published in 2018. Forsyth's now classic post-Cold War thrillers drew on drone warfare, rendition and terrorism — and eventually prompted his wife to call for an end to his dangerous research trips. "You're far too old, these places are bloody dangerous and you don't run as avidly, as nimbly as you used to," Sandy Molloy said after his last trip to Somalia in 2013 researching The Kill List, as Forsyth recounted to AFP in 2016. Real-life spy There were also revelations in his autobiography about his links with British intelligence. Forsyth recounted that he was approached in 1968 by "Ronnie" from MI6 who wanted "an asset deep inside the Biafran enclave" in Nigeria, where there was a civil war between 1967 and 1970. While he was there, Forsyth reported on the situation and at the same time kept "Ronnie informed of things that could not, for various reasons, emerge in the media". Then in 1973 Forsyth was asked to conduct a mission for MI6 in communist East Germany. He drove his Triumph convertible to Dresden to receive a package from a Russian colonel in the toilets of the Albertinum museum. The writer claimed he was never paid by MI6 but in return received help with book research, submitting draft pages to ensure he was not divulging sensitive information. Flying dreams In later years Forsyth turned his attention to British politics, penning a regular column in the anti-EU Daily Express newspaper. He also wrote articles on counter-terrorism issues, military affairs and foreign policy. Despite his successful writing career, he admitted in his memoirs it was not his first choice. "As a boy, I was obsessed by aeroplanes and just wanted to be a pilot," he wrote of growing up an only child in Ashford, southern England, where he was born on August 25, 1938. He trained as a Royal Air Force pilot, before joining Reuters news agency in 1961 and later working for the BBC.
eNCA
09-06-2025
- eNCA
Frederick Forsyth: adventurer and bestselling spy novelist
A pilot who turned to writing to clear his debts, British author Frederick Forsyth, who died Monday aged 86, penned some 20 spy novels, often drawing on real-life experiences and selling 70 million copies worldwide. In such bestsellers as "The Day of the Jackal" and "The Odessa File", Forsyth honed a distinctive style of deeply researched and precise espionage thrillers involving power games between mercenaries, spies and scoundrels. For inspiration he drew on his own globe-trotting life, including an early stint as a foreign correspondent and assisting Britain's spy service on missions in Nigeria, South Africa, and the former East Germany and Rhodesia. "The research was the big parallel: as a foreign correspondent you are probing, asking questions, trying to find out what's going on, and probably being lied to," he told The Bookseller magazine in 2015. "Working on a novel is much the same... essentially it's a very extended report about something that never happened -- but might have." - Dangerous research - He wrote his first novel when he was 31, on a break from reporting and in dire need of money to fund his wanderlust. Having returned "from an African war, and stony broke as usual, with no job and no chance of one, I hit on the idea of writing a novel to clear my debts," he said in his autobiography "The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue" published in 2015. "There are several ways of making quick money, but in the general list, writing a novel rates well below robbing a bank." But Forsyth's foray came good. Taking just 35 days to pen "The Day of the Jackal", his story of a fictional assassination attempt on French president Charles de Gaulle by right-wing extremists, met immediate success when it appeared in 1971. The novel was later turned into a film and provided self-styled revolutionary Carlos the Jackal with his nickname. Forsyth went on to write a string of bestsellers, including "The Odessa File" (1972) and "The Dogs of War" (1974). His eighteenth novel, "The Fox", was published in 2018. Forsyth's now classic post-Cold War thrillers drew on drone warfare, rendition and terrorism -- and eventually prompted his wife to call for an end to his dangerous research trips. "You're far too old, these places are bloody dangerous and you don't run as avidly, as nimbly as you used to," Sandy Molloy said after his last trip to Somalia in 2013 researching "The Kill List", as Forsyth recounted to AFP in 2016. - Real-life spy - There were also revelations in his autobiography about his links with British intelligence. Forsyth recounted that he was approached in 1968 by "Ronnie" from MI6 who wanted "an asset deep inside the Biafran enclave" in Nigeria, where there was a civil war between 1967 and 1970. While he was there, Forsyth reported on the situation and at the same time kept "Ronnie informed of things that could not, for various reasons, emerge in the media". Then in 1973 Forsyth was asked to conduct a mission for MI6 in communist East Germany. He drove his Triumph convertible to Dresden to receive a package from a Russian colonel in the toilets of the Albertinum museum. The writer claimed he was never paid by MI6 but in return received help with book research, submitting draft pages to ensure he was not divulging sensitive information. - Flying dreams - In later years Forsyth turned his attention to British politics, penning a regular column in the anti-EU Daily Express newspaper. He also wrote articles on counter-terrorism issues, military affairs and foreign policy. Despite his successful writing career, he admitted in his memoirs it was not his first choice. "As a boy, I was obsessed by aeroplanes and just wanted to be a pilot," he wrote of growing up an only child in Ashford, southern England, where he was born on August 25, 1938. He trained as a Royal Air Force pilot, before joining Reuters news agency in 1961 and later working for the BBC. But after he wrote "Jackal", another career path opened up. "My publisher told me, to my complete surprise, that it seemed I could tell a good story. And that is what I have done for the past forty-five years," he recalled in his autobiography. By Emilie Bickerton
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Yahoo
Frederick Forsyth: adventurer and bestselling spy novelist
A pilot who turned to writing to clear his debts, British author Frederick Forsyth, who died Monday aged 86, penned some 20 spy novels, often drawing on real-life experiences and selling 70 million copies worldwide. In such bestsellers as "The Day of the Jackal" and "The Odessa File", Forsyth honed a distinctive style of deeply researched and precise espionage thrillers involving power games between mercenaries, spies and scoundrels. For inspiration he drew on his own globe-trotting life, including an early stint as a foreign correspondent and assisting Britain's spy service on missions in Nigeria, South Africa, and the former East Germany and Rhodesia. "The research was the big parallel: as a foreign correspondent you are probing, asking questions, trying to find out what's going on, and probably being lied to," he told The Bookseller magazine in 2015. "Working on a novel is much the same... essentially it's a very extended report about something that never happened -- but might have." - Dangerous research - He wrote his first novel when he was 31, on a break from reporting and in dire need of money to fund his wanderlust. Having returned "from an African war, and stony broke as usual, with no job and no chance of one, I hit on the idea of writing a novel to clear my debts," he said in his autobiography "The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue" published in 2015. "There are several ways of making quick money, but in the general list, writing a novel rates well below robbing a bank." But Forsyth's foray came good. Taking just 35 days to pen "The Day of the Jackal", his story of a fictional assassination attempt on French president Charles de Gaulle by right-wing extremists, met immediate success when it appeared in 1971. The novel was later turned into a film and provided self-styled revolutionary Carlos the Jackal with his nickname. Forsyth went on to write a string of bestsellers including "The Odessa File" (1972) and "The Dogs of War" (1974). His eighteenth novel, "The Fox", was published in 2018. Forsyth's now classic post-Cold War thrillers drew on drone warfare, rendition and terrorism -- and eventually prompted his wife to call for an end to his dangerous research trips. "You're far too old, these places are bloody dangerous and you don't run as avidly, as nimbly as you used to," Sandy Molloy said after his last trip to Somalia in 2013 researching "The Kill List", as Forsyth recounted to AFP in 2016. - Real-life spy - There were also revelations in his autobiography about his links with British intelligence. Forsyth recounted that he was approached in 1968 by "Ronnie" from MI6 who wanted "an asset deep inside the Biafran enclave" in Nigeria, where there was a civil war between 1967 and 1970. While he was there, Forsyth reported on the situation and at the same time kept "Ronnie informed of things that could not, for various reasons, emerge in the media". Then in 1973 Forsyth was asked to conduct a mission for MI6 in communist East Germany. He drove his Triumph convertible to Dresden to receive a package from a Russian colonel in the toilets of the Albertinum museum. The writer claimed he was never paid by MI6 but in return received help with book research, submitting draft pages to ensure he was not divulging sensitive information. - Flying dreams - In later years Forsyth turned his attention to British politics, penning a regular column in the anti-EU Daily Express newspaper. He also wrote articles on counter-terrorism issues, military affairs and foreign policy. Despite his successful writing career, he admitted in his memoirs it was not his first choice. "As a boy, I was obsessed by aeroplanes and just wanted to be a pilot," he wrote of growing up an only child in Ashford, southern England, where he was born on August 25, 1938. He trained as a Royal Air Force pilot, before joining Reuters news agency in 1961 and later working for the BBC. But after he wrote "Jackal", another career path opened up. "My publisher told me, to my complete surprise, that it seemed I could tell a good story. And that is what I have done for the past forty-five years," he recalled in his autobiography. rsc-eab/br/boc/jkb/phz
NDTV
09-06-2025
- NDTV
Frederick Forsyth, UK Author Known For Spy Novels, Dies At 86
London: A pilot who turned to writing to clear his debts, British author Frederick Forsyth, who died Monday aged 86, penned some 20 spy novels, often drawing on real-life experiences and selling 70 million copies worldwide. In such bestsellers as "The Day of the Jackal" and "The Odessa File", Forsyth honed a distinctive style of deeply researched and precise espionage thrillers involving power games between mercenaries, spies and scoundrels. For inspiration he drew on his own globe-trotting life, including an early stint as a foreign correspondent and assisting Britain's spy service on missions in Nigeria, South Africa, and the former East Germany and Rhodesia. "The research was the big parallel: as a foreign correspondent you are probing, asking questions, trying to find out what's going on, and probably being lied to," he told The Bookseller magazine in 2015. "Working on a novel is much the same... essentially it's a very extended report about something that never happened -- but might have." - Dangerous research - He wrote his first novel when he was 31, on a break from reporting and in dire need of money to fund his wanderlust. Having returned "from an African war, and stony broke as usual, with no job and no chance of one, I hit on the idea of writing a novel to clear my debts," he said in his autobiography "The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue" published in 2015. "There are several ways of making quick money, but in the general list, writing a novel rates well below robbing a bank." But Forsyth's foray came good. Taking just 35 days to pen "The Day of the Jackal", his story of a fictional assassination attempt on French president Charles de Gaulle by right-wing extremists, met immediate success when it appeared in 1971. The novel was later turned into a film and provided self-styled revolutionary Carlos the Jackal with his nickname. Forsyth went on to write a string of bestsellers including "The Odessa File" (1972) and "The Dogs of War" (1974). His eighteenth novel, "The Fox", was published in 2018. Forsyth's now classic post-Cold War thrillers drew on drone warfare, rendition and terrorism -- and eventually prompted his wife to call for an end to his dangerous research trips. "You're far too old, these places are bloody dangerous and you don't run as avidly, as nimbly as you used to," Sandy Molloy said after his last trip to Somalia in 2013 researching "The Kill List", as Forsyth recounted to AFP in 2016. - Real-life spy - There were also revelations in his autobiography about his links with British intelligence. Forsyth recounted that he was approached in 1968 by "Ronnie" from MI6 who wanted "an asset deep inside the Biafran enclave" in Nigeria, where there was a civil war between 1967 and 1970. While he was there, Forsyth reported on the situation and at the same time kept "Ronnie informed of things that could not, for various reasons, emerge in the media". Then in 1973 Forsyth was asked to conduct a mission for MI6 in communist East Germany. He drove his Triumph convertible to Dresden to receive a package from a Russian colonel in the toilets of the Albertinum museum. The writer claimed he was never paid by MI6 but in return received help with book research, submitting draft pages to ensure he was not divulging sensitive information. - Flying dreams - In later years Forsyth turned his attention to British politics, penning a regular column in the anti-EU Daily Express newspaper. He also wrote articles on counter-terrorism issues, military affairs and foreign policy. Despite his successful writing career, he admitted in his memoirs it was not his first choice. "As a boy, I was obsessed by aeroplanes and just wanted to be a pilot," he wrote of growing up an only child in Ashford, southern England, where he was born on August 25, 1938. He trained as a Royal Air Force pilot, before joining Reuters news agency in 1961 and later working for the BBC. But after he wrote "Jackal", another career path opened up. "My publisher told me, to my complete surprise, that it seemed I could tell a good story. And that is what I have done for the past forty-five years," he recalled in his autobiography.
