Dick Francis, author of dozens of popular mystery novels has died. He was 89. Most of his stories were set in the world of racing, where he had once been a champion jockey.
I have on the table beside my computer, two Dick Francis novels I found in a used bookstore that I have never read. His latest book, co-cuthored by his son, Felix, (I think it is called Silks), I also have not read. I may have missed a few more, here and there over the years but will doubless find, read and enjoy them as I have all of his work.
Not a stylist, Francis told straight ahead mystery stories with clever plotting, thrilling action, believable characters and an attention to setting, process and detail that made every book shine. They all had a racing background but might also involve veterinary medicine, air transport, track management, sports journalism, betting parlors or even intricate bookkeeping methods as added gloss and depth.
He could write and we will miss him.
Hugs,
Erin
Comments
I just finished re-reading 'Risk' this week.
I think I've read about half his novels, and just gave most away to the Palo Alto Veteran's Hospital, as I pare down my overly huge library, in preparation for moving.
That is one thing I will regret, but it is necessary. My library took too much space, and weighed too much, when contemplating a move of 3200+ Kilometers. I read, and if I like it, reread them.
It’s not given to anyone to have no regrets; only to decide, through the choices we make, which regrets we’ll have,
David Weber – In Fury Born
Holly
It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
Holly
Perhaps his greatest claim to fame ...
... of a sort was when his horse Devon Loch simply fell over just before the finish line in the 1956 Grand National allowing another horse to overtake and win the prestigious race. It didn't help that Devon Loch was owned by the Queen Mother.
He's quite remarkable in that he had such success in two fields of endeavour: horse racing and literature. There was some suspicion that Francis himself supplied a lot of the factual detail but his late wife did much of the actual writing. I think was accepted that it was something of team effort and nothing wrong with that IMO.
We seem to have lost a few well known personalties recently in the UK, actor Ian Carmichael, fashion designer Alexander McQueen and jazz musician Sir John Dankworth last week and now Dick Francis.
Robi
Dick Francis at the finishing post
Greetings
There are some of his books on my shelves, some have been read and others waiting "for a quiet time". No doubt more will be added to the collection when I find them.
The horse racing scene in the British Isles I am sure is different to USA, most races are on grass!
Brian
THANK YOU ERIN ,
ALISON
'although it is sad news.Dick Francis was not only a great writer,but a marvellous
story teller.My late father introduced me to these great stories and I think
that I read most of them.He will be sadly missed.
ALISON
I Have Them All
Every one of his books is on my shelves. "Silks" is waiting for me to read it. They are all good reads without being great literature, but I can pull them out for a re-reading and they remain fresh even after many years.
Thank You Dick,
Joanne
Yes, this is true
I never worry about picking up a Dick Francis I don't recognize and re-reading it, I know I will enjoy a second or a third time. He's like Rex Stout and John D. MacDonald in that.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Dick Francis, My father, TG fiction
While I have read a great many mystery novels in my life, I never read anything penned by Francis. There is no reason for this.
My late father read his books. For some years, I would get Francis' latest novel as a birthday or Christmas present for him.
Dad used to own standardbred race horses and up through age 25(or about half my present age) I went to the harness races many times. The most common racetracks I went to were Pompano, Scioto, Sportsman's Park, Freehold, and Brandywine. Dad had one excellent horse, who finished 2nd in the Little Brown Jug. The LBJ is Pacing's equivalent of the Kentucky Derby.
I've always wanted to do a TG fiction story with a horse racing background.(But not a story that involved turning men into mares) A good plot has eluded me.
"Writing is like walking in a deserted street. Out of the dust in the street you make a mud pie."- John le Carre
Daniel, author of maid, whore, bimbo, and sissy free TG fiction since 2000
What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.- Oscar Levant
Track Brat
I was a racetrack brat growing up, my parents took me to Hollywood Park, Del Mar, Santa Anita, Caliente when they still ran horses.
I loved watching the horses and the crazy people screaming, the weird owners in the winner's circle. Dick Francis's
steeplechase racing was a different world, and yet there were enough similarites that I immediately glommed onto
his stuff and read every one until these last few, and will definitely read those, and hopefully a few more
as new manuscripts are discovered. I can't think of another mystery writer beside Raymond Chandler
and Jim Thompson who I had to read everything they did, but they were more literary and strayed
from the whodunit formula a lot. Dick Francis was just fun. His jockey main characters might
have had issues but they were decent in what I used to see as a particularly British way
(I was a just kid when I started reading him, and was {still am} am a raging Anglophile,
to a point where my folks had to go upside my head- QUIT TALKIN LIKE DAT, BOY!),
but I do think the narrators' decency reflect the author's own virtues.
It could turn out he was a total asshole, but I somehow doubt it.
[INSERT MAUDLIN RACING-IN-HEAVEN METAPHORE HERE...]
~~hugs, Laika
Well shit, I guess it really CAN happen here..,
.