'Day of the Jackal' author Frederick Forsyth dies at 86
LONDON — Frederick Forsyth, the author of 'The Day of the Jackal' and other bestselling thrillers, has died after a brief illness, his literary agent said Monday. He was 86.
Jonathan Lloyd, his agent, said Forsyth died at home early Monday surrounded by his family.
'We mourn the passing of one of the world's greatest thriller writers,' Lloyd said.
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New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Frederick Forsyth, Master of the Geopolitical Thriller, Dies at 86
Frederick Forsyth, who used his early experience as a British foreign correspondent as fodder for a series of swashbuckling, best-selling thrillers in the 1970s, including 'The Day of the Jackal,' 'The Odessa File' and 'The Dogs of War,' died on Monday at his home in Jordans, a village north of London. He was 86. His literary representative, Jonathan Lloyd, did not specify a cause, saying only that the death followed a short illness. Mr. Forsyth was a master of the geopolitical nail-biter, writing novels embedded in an international demimonde populated by spies, mercenaries and political extremists. He wrote 24 books, including 14 novels, and sold more than 75 million copies. Though he set many of his best works during the Cold War of the 1960s and '70s, Mr. Forsyth often chose stories and characters operating apart from the U.S.-Soviet rivalry, in post-colonial conflicts in Africa, for example, or involving Nazi hunters in Europe. His novel 'The Fourth Protocol' (1984), which many critics considered his best, offered a twisting tale of nuclear espionage and radical-left politics in Britain. His books regularly topped the best-seller lists, and many were turned into movies within a few years of their debut. A film version of 'The Day of the Jackal,' starring Michael Lonsdale, appeared in 1973, just two years after the novel's publication; a second movie version, with Bruce Willis and Sidney Poitier, was released in 1997 as 'The Jackal.' (A television series based on the novel, starring Eddie Redmayne, aired last year.) Mr. Forsyth came by his subjects through firsthand experience. Eschewing college after high school, he joined the Royal Air Force, where he flew fighter jets. He then worked as a reporter for Reuters; at one point, he covered the attempted assassination of President Charles de Gaulle of France by far-right militants angry over the country's withdrawal from Algeria. It was an event that he fictionalized to great effect in 'The Day of the Jackal,' which followed, in minute detail, the preparations of an elusive assassin and the French government's efforts to stop him. In 1965, Mr. Forsyth moved to the BBC, where he covered a civil war in Nigeria between the central, dictatorial government and the breakaway state of Biafra. In 2015, he revealed that while in Africa he also worked as an informant for British intelligence. His reporting on Biafra led to two books, the nonfiction 'The Biafran Story' (1969) and 'The Dogs of War' (1974), about a group of mercenaries hired by a shady international consortium to stage a coup against a resources-rich African country. Mr. Forsyth was politically conservative, and supported the Brexit campaign to leave the European Union in 2016. This is a developing story. A complete obituary will follow. Sopan Deb contributed reporting.
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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Author of The Day Of The Jackal Frederick Forsyth has died
Frederick Forsyth, the author of The Day Of The Jackal, has died at the age of 86 after a brief illness, his literary agents Curtis Brown said. His book The Day Of The Jackal was turned into a 1973 film and last year a TV series on Sky Atlantic featuring Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch. The best-selling author was surrounded by his family when he died on Monday morning, Curtis Brown added. Read more: Forsyth, a former RAF pilot and investigative journalist turned novelist, was also known for his thrilling crime books The Fox, The Kill List and The Afghan. He was born in Ashford, Kent, in 1938 and joined the Royal Air Force in 1956 before leaving after two years to pursue a career in journalism. He covered international stories and the attempted assassination of French general Charles de Gaulle, which provided the inspiration for The Day Of The Jackal, which was published in 1971. In 2000 he became the first high-profile British writer to agree to publish a book exclusively on the internet. He revealed he had extensive involvement with MI6 in his 2015 memoir The Outsider: My Life In Intrigue. His agent Jonathan Lloyd said: "We mourn the passing of one of the world's greatest thriller writers. "Only a few weeks ago I sat with him as we watched a new and moving documentary of his life - In My Own Words, to be released later this year on BBC1 - and was reminded of an extraordinary life, well lived. "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. "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 went on to write more than 25 books (many of which were made into films) that have sold over 75 million copies. "He will be greatly missed by his family, his friends, all of us at Curtis Brown and of course his millions of fans around the world - though his books will of course live on forever." This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the latest version. You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
