Cheyenne Suarez

'The Day of The Jackal' author Frederick Forsyth dies aged 86

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nJhtqb1pK8Q?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>LONDON, United Kingdom - Prolific British thriller writer Frederick Forsyth, who instantly became a global bestselling author when his book &quot;The Day of the Jackal&quot; was published in 1971, died on Monday aged 86, his literary agents Curtis Brown said.</p><p>Forsyth famously penned his most famous work about a fictional assassination attempt on French president Charles de Gaulle by right-wing extremists in just 35 days after falling on hard times.</p><p>&quot;The Jackal&quot; went on to be made into a hit film starring Edward Fox as the assassin. A remake with Eddie Redmayne in the lead role was released last year.</p><p>&quot;We mourn the passing of one of the world&#x27;s greatest thriller writers,&quot; his agent Jonathan Lloyd said.</p><p>Forsyth died at home surrounded by his family following a brief illness, according to Curtis Brown.</p><p>The former journalist and pilot wrote over 25 books including &quot;The Odessa File&quot; (1972) and &quot;The Dogs of War&quot; (1974) and sold over 75 million copies worldwide.</p><p>Many of his novels were also turned into films.</p><p>&quot;Only a few weeks ago I sat with him as we watched a new and moving documentary of his life ... and was reminded of an extraordinary life, well lived,&quot; said Lloyd.</p><p>&quot;After serving as one of the youngest ever RAF pilots, he turned to journalism, using his gift for languages in German, French and Russian to become a foreign correspondent in Biafra (in Nigeria),&quot; he said.</p><div><strong>- &#x27;Spectacular luck&#x27; -</strong></div><p>&quot;Appalled at what he saw and using his experience during a stint as a secret service agent, he wrote his first and perhaps most famous novel, &#x27;The Day Of The Jackal&#x27;,&quot; he added.</p><p>A sequel to &quot;The Odessa File&quot;, entitled &quot;Revenge Of Odessa&quot;, on which he worked with thriller writer Tony Kent, is due to be published in August, his publisher Bill Scott-Kerr said.</p><p>&quot;His journalistic background brought a rigour and a metronomic efficiency to his working practice and his nose for and understanding of a great story kept his novels both thrillingly contemporary and fresh,&quot; Scott-Kerr added.</p><p>Forsyth attributed much of his success to &quot;luck&quot;, recalling how a bullet narrowly missed him while he was covering the bloody Biafra civil war between 1967 and 1970.</p><p>&quot;I have had the most spectacular luck all through my life,&quot; he told The Times last November in an interview.</p><p>&quot;Right place, right time, right person, right contact, right promotion -- and even just turning my head away when that bullet went past,&quot; he said.</p><p>Asked why he had decided to give up writing -- although he later went back to it -- he told AFP in 2016 he&#x27;d &quot;run out of things to say&quot;.</p><p>&quot;I can&#x27;t just sit at home and do a nice little romance from within my study, I have to go out and check out places like Modagishu, Guinea Bissau, both hellholes in different ways,&quot; he said.</p><p>Forsyth had two sons by his first wife. His second wife, Sandy, died last year.</p><p>Conservative MP David Davis paid tribute to his friend as a &quot;fabulous wordsmith&quot;.</p><p>He told Sky News that Forsyth &quot;was a great believer in the old values -– he believed in honour and patriotism and courage and directness and straightforwardness, and a big defender of our armed forces&quot;.</p><div><strong>bur-har/jkb/ach</strong></div><div><strong><br/></strong></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>Prolific British thriller writer Frederick Forsyth, who instantly became a global bestselling author when his book "The Day of the Jackal" was published in 1971, died on Monday aged 86, his literary agents Curtis Brown said.</p>

Prolific British thriller writer Frederick Forsyth, who instantly became a global bestselling author when his book "The Day of the Jackal" was published in 1971, died on Monday aged 86, his literary agents Curtis Brown said.