Frederick Forsyth: adventurer and bestselling spy novelist
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.
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France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Frederick Forsyth, author of 'The Day of The Jackal', dies age 86
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. 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. "The Jackal" went on to be made into a hit film starring Edward Fox as the assassin. A Netflix remake last year with Eddie Redmayne in the lead role was released last year. "We mourn the passing of one of the world's greatest thriller writers," his agent Jonathan Lloyd said. Forsyth died at home surrounded by his family following a brief illness, according to Curtis Brown. The former journalist and pilot wrote over 25 books including "The Odessa File" (1972) and "The Dogs of War" (1974) and sold over 75 million copies worldwide. Many of his novels were also turned into films. "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," said Lloyd. "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)," he said. 'Spectacular luck' "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, 'The Day Of The Jackal'," he added. A sequel to "The Odessa File", entitled "Revenge Of Odessa", on which he worked with thriller writer Tony Kent, is due to be published in August, his publisher Bill Scott-Kerr said. "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," Scott-Kerr added. Forsyth attributed much of his success to "luck", recalling how a bullet narrowly missed him while he was covering the bloody Biafra civil war between 1967 and 1970. "I have had the most spectacular luck all through my life," he told The Times last November in an interview. "Right place, right time, right person, right contact, right promotion -- and even just turning my head away when that bullet went past," he said. Asked why he had decided to give up writing -- although he later went back to it -- he told AFP in 2016 he'd "run out of things to say". "I can'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," he said. Forsyth had two sons by his first wife. His second wife, Sandy, died last year. Conservative MP David Davis paid tribute to his friend as a "fabulous wordsmith". He told Sky News that Forsyth "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".
LeMonde
3 hours ago
- LeMonde
'The Day of The Jackal' author Frederick Forsyth dies aged 86
British thriller writer Frederick Forsyth, the author of The Day of The Jackal, has died at the age of 86, his literary agents Curtis Brown said on Monday, June 9. "We mourn the passing of one of the world's greatest thriller writers," his agent Jonathan Lloyd said. Forsyth died at home on Monday morning surrounded by his family following a brief illness, according to Curtis Brown. "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," said Lloyd. "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)," Lloyd said. "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, The Day Of The Jackal, and instantly became a global best-selling author," he added. A pilot who turned to writing to clear his debts, Forsyth penned more than 25 novels, including 20 spy novels, often drawing on real-life experiences and selling 70 million copies worldwide. 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." 'Stony broke as usual' 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).
France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
Frederick Forsyth: adventurer and bestselling spy novelist
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.
