RIP Dick Francis

--by Hanje Richards

.
Prolific mystery writer Dick Francis was born in Lawrenny, South Wales, the son of a jockey and stable manager and grew up in Berkshire, England. He died on February 14, 2010 at his Caribbean home in Grand Cayman.

.

Francis left school at 15 with the intention of becoming a jockey and became a trainer in 1938. After leaving the RAF in 1946, he became a celebrity in the world of British National Hunt racing. He won over 350 races, becoming champion jockey in the 1953–54 season.

.

From 1953-1957, Frances was jockey to Queen Elizabeth. In 1957, he was forced to retire from racing as the result of a serious fall. His most famous moment as a jockey came while riding the Queen Mother's horse, Devon Loch, in the 1956 Grand National when the horse inexplicably fell when close to winning the race.

.

Dick Francis wrote more than 40 international bestsellers. His first book was his autobiography, The Sport of Queens (1957) which led to his career as the racing correspondent for London's "Sunday Express" newspaper. He remained in the job for 16 years.

.

In 1962, he published his first thriller, Dead Cert, set in the world of racing. Subsequently, he regularly produced a novel a year for the next 38 years, missing only 1998 (during which he published a short-story collection). Although all his books were set against a background of horse racing, his heroes held a variety of jobs from artist to private investigator.

.
Francis is the only three-time recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award for Best Novel. Britain's Crime Writers Association awarded him its Gold Dagger Award for fiction in 1979 and the Cartier Diamond Dagger lifetime achievement award in 1989. In 1996, he received the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award, the highest honor bestowed by the MWA. He was awarded a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2000. In 2003, he was honored by being awarded the Gumshoe Awards' Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award.

.
.
The Copper Queen Library owns over 30 of Dick Francis’ mysteries in the Mystery section. If you haven't already done so, come on in and check him out!