In memoriam - Wilbur Smith has passed away

[PerH]

I just saw it in the APHA page, the great writer and hunter who gave many the passion for adventure and the bush ,aswell as finding oppertunity to sneak in house a oak and leather velvet lined case. He has joined the safaris and writers in the sky this weekend.

Bestselling author Wilbur Smith dies aged 88

The Zambian-born writer published 49 books and sold more than 140 million copies worldwide

www.theguardian.com

 

[Sika98k]

RIP. I grew up as a kid reading about the Courteneys. I found, however, his later books somewhat listless.

 

[MMAL]

I really enjoy his books. Great writer and wish him peace.

 

[8 x 60]

Shame . Always enjoyed his stories.

 

[8 x 60]

 

[Bonk]

R.I.P.

He was one of my all time favorite writers. He was at his best when he stuck to historical fiction. The Courtneys, etc. I wasn't a fan of the stuff based in modern times. They had too much of a Jack Reacher feel to them. Canned and predictable.

He was very prolific and had a great life. We should all live that well. God's speed Mr. Smith.

 

[Red Leg]

In some ways he set the standard for future adventure writers who could turn out an amazing amount of extremely good material. In his final years, he utilized co-authors to fill out the Courtney history among other stories - a technique adopted by other aging franchise authors like Clive Cussler.

All of his work is readable, and his best is some of the finest historical fiction ever published. If you have not read “When the Lion Feeds,” you have not yet read any African literature. That book, and the Courtney family burst upon the scene in 1964. It became, and still is, an international best seller. It also has the unique position of having been condemned by both the apartheid South African government and later, the ANC. He was clearly doing something right.

He wrote other series, and many stand alone works. Like all prolific authors, some are better than others - all were readable. Many would agree - over 150 million copies of his works have been published in many languages.

We have lost one of our greats.

 

[sestoppelman]

Read virtually all of his books, some more than once. Too many favorites to list.
RIP

 

[nztimb]

Read virtually all of his books, some more than once. Too many favorites to list.
RIP

Yes I think that many of us have done the same.

 

[Nyati]

I enjoyed his books, well, the modern ones, not so much !

RIP

 

[AB2506]

When I was young, I was enamored with Alaska. But then my father introduced me to Wilbur Smith.

Was it Wilbur's tales of Africa that turned me on to Africa, specifically hunting Africa? His tales certainly didn't hurt.

I hope to tour and hunt Africa again. RIP Wilbur.

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

RIP

 

[jpomazi]

Great author. Read all his books which fueled my interest and passion in Africa. RIP

 

[baxterb]

His autobiography On Leopard Rock is well worth reading.

One of the good ones.

 

[Frederik]

The first novel I read from him was Elephant Song - being a teenager then 15-16 it was quite a read hi spolitical history books was also very good and of course the Courtneus and Ballantynes his first Egyptian novel was good but from there I did not read much of his books anymore.

I believe he hunted with John Sharp a few times.
He had enough money to settle anywhere in the world but still choose his home in Africa.

 

[Ragman]

Well I sure don't know how I managed it but I missed both this thread AND the news of Mr. Smith's passing. I only discovered that he had died a couple of days ago. I suppose that knowing he was 88 years old it shouldn't have come as such a shock to me but nevertheless it did. He was for certain my favourite author. I remember like yesterday when I was introduced to this incredibly talented writer. It was 1989 and I was working in a tent camp in the British Columbia bush. It was drizzling rain for about four days and we weren't able to do our work. So we spent a lot of time in our tents once playing cribbage lost it's appeal. I noticed this book sitting on a pile of crates and checked out the title. It was "The Sound of Thunder". I took it to my tent and was very quickly completely absorbed in the world of Sean Courtney. I loved it so much I read it over again as soon as I'd gotten through it the first time. I've probably read it at least three more time in the 30-some years since then. I have acquired the rest of his books in over the years except Eagle In the Sky. Rest easy Sir. The hours and hours of escape and enjoyment your books have given me is beyond value.