Author Birthday – 31 October – Dick Francis

Dick Francis was born on 31 October 1920 and died on 14 February 2010.

Dick Francis Quotes

1. I am Richard, Mary is Mary and Dick Francis was the two of us together. (Thrilling Detective)
2. Most people think, when they’re young, that they’re going to the top of their chosen world, and that the climb up is only a formality. Without that faith, I suppose, they might never start. Somewhere on the way they lift their eyes to the summit and know they aren’t going to reach it; and happiness then is looking down and enjoying the view they’ve got, not envying the one they haven’t. (Reflex)
3. Some are born weird, some achieve it, others have weirdness thrust upon them. (To The Hilt)
4. Look at everything upside down. Take absolutely nothing for granted. (Rat Race)
5. Writing a novel proved to be the hardest, most self-analyzing task I had ever attempted, far worse than an autobiography: and its rewards were greater than I expected. (A-Z)
6. It’s people with obsessions who do the real harm in the world. (10-LB Penalty)
7. To be logical you have to dig up and face your own hidden motives and emotions, and of course they’re hidden principally because you don’t want to face them. (The Danger)

Dick Francis was a British steeplechase jockey, who won more than 350 races, and crime writer whose novels centre on horse racing in England. His first book was his autobiography The Sport of Queens. In 1962, Francis turned to fiction with a successful first novel, Dead Cert. He averaged a thriller a year from then on, writing with the help of his wife, Mary. His books usually feature an amateur sleuth who uses deductive reasoning to solve a mystery. The typical Francis villain is a pretentious snob whose smooth exterior masks his vices. The stories are narrated by the main character, often a jockey, but sometimes a trainer, an owner, a bookmaker, or someone in a different profession linked to racing. Among his novels are Nerve and Forfeit, which won an Edgar Award. More than 40 of these novels became international best-sellers. Francis received many awards, amongst them the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association’s Cartier Diamond Dagger for his outstanding contribution to the genre, and three ‘best novel’ Edgar Allan Poe awards from The Mystery Writers of America. In 1996 he was named by them as Grand Master for a lifetime’s achievement. In 1998 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List of 2000.

Source for photograph: The Guardian

by Amanda Patterson
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