Dick Francis, Jockey and Writer, Dies at 89

Source: New York Times

Dick Francis, whose notable but blighted career as a champion steeplechase jockey for the British royal family was eclipsed by a second, more brilliant career as a popular thriller writer, died on Sunday in the Cayman Islands, where he had a home. He was 89.


The death was announced by a family spokeswoman.

The author of more than 40 novels, most of them set in the world of thoroughbred horse racing, Mr. Francis made it a point of honor to satisfy fans with one book a year for most of his career. His works have been translated into languages around the world.

Although his first novel, “Dead Cert” in 1962, was made into a feature film, television adaptations of his stories have been more successful, including a British series broadcast here in 1980 as part of the public television series “Mystery!” That series doubled sales of his books in the United States.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/15/books/15francis.html?hpw

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One of my early favorites.

RIP Mr. Francis

Props for having the ability to keep people turning the pages.

I read them over and over and over....

Some when I was on the road and didn't have a choice. But later, I grabbed a couple out of the library when I had a choice. Nice popcorn.

Thanks for the reads.

I enjoyed many of his books.

Writing about true courage, false bravado, and the cowardice of violent criminals. Always a good read, slices of interesting lives - and the good guys win, for good reasons. And you could tell, even in the last books, written with his son Felix, how much he loved horses, and riding.

She had Spenser and Francis in rotation, now it is all darkness.

RIP.

pleases many is a talent. Perhaps it is a talent scorned by some, but it is a talent nontheless.

RIP Mr. Francis.

And I used to do a great deal of reading. I discovered his book, "The Edge," when my mother brought back one of his books from the hospital. She got it for my uncle, another Dick Francis fan, but he'd already read it. I read it, instead, and went on to read all of his books, my favorites more than once. I loved his well written stories of the world he knew so well. He used to come out with a new book every October, just in time for my birthday. I'll miss him terribly. ;(

:cry:

A co-worker let me borrow the books. I thought this was the same author, but little was mentioned about his ties to aviation except in the final few lines of the article, then I knew.

I seldom read mysteries, but I enjoyed his work.

R.I.P.

I spent about four months having a Dick Francis Marathon back in the mid-90's. I read each and every one of the books he had written to date, most of them in this time span. The hospital I was working at was threatening to close its doors and I was under lots of stress back then. I have since read every one that has come out.

I learned a lot of things about horses and other fields of endeavor in this world from reading his books. They were well thought out, well researched, interesting, and non-violent. I am an avid mystery reader and he is in my top ten. I highly recommend him to people who like mysteries but can't stomach really violent ones. They books are not entirely "horsey" in their themes. Some of them don't have a lot to do with horses at all. I'm not a horse person and that initially made me shy away from his mysteries, but once I got into them I couldn't put them down.

RIP Dick Francis.

It was Dick Francis who turned me on to mysteries. I read every book he wrote, many more than once, and I looked forward to his yearly new one. I do, however, like horses, grew up in Saratoga, NY, and learned to ride when I was a kid. I also read to escape and his well written stories fit the bill. He was my favorite and I'll miss him a lot. ;(