Thriller writer Dick Francis dies at 89

The well loved best selling thriller writer Dick Francis has died at the age of 89, fans will be saddened to learn.

Writer Frederick Forsyth said of Francis that authors were still "walking in his footsteps" and he commended him for his amazingly prolific page-turning novels.

Sir Peter O'Sullevan, a former BBC commentator said of the writer that he was one of the "people's champions" and that he was a "very good mate." He told of how he so much enjoyed reading his novels and "found him a wonderfully efficient author".

Dick Francis wrote over 40 best selling novels over his whole writing career and sold around 60 million books all over the world. In 1957, he published his autobiography and five years later produced his first thriller Dead Cert.

In 1996, Francis won the Crime Writer's Association lifetime achievement award and also won a large number of awards for popular fiction in his genre. In 2000, he was awarded the CBE for services to literature.

Also in the 1950s Dick Francis was a champion jockey and was, in fact, the Queen Mother's jockey. She was one of his most enthusiastic readers and the Queen will be saddened by the news of his death, said Buckingham Palace.

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