Frederick Forsyth, the best-selling British author whose gripping spy thrillers captivated millions and helped define the modern political thriller, has died at the age of 86. His death was confirmed Monday by his literary agent, Jonathan Lloyd, who said the author passed away at his home in Jordans, Buckinghamshire.
“We mourn the passing of one of the world’s greatest thriller writers,” Lloyd said, honoring a literary legend whose works sold more than 75 million copies worldwide.
Before his literary fame, Forsyth led a life as dramatic as the stories he later wrote. A trained Royal Air Force pilot fluent in multiple languages — including French, German, Spanish, and Russian — Forsyth began his career in journalism with Reuters in the early 1960s, covering Cold War hotspots in Paris and East Berlin. He later joined the BBC, though he became disillusioned with its editorial policies, especially concerning coverage of postcolonial Africa.
His 2015 memoir, The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue, revealed that Forsyth had also worked as an informant for Britain’s MI6, beginning in 1968 during the Nigerian civil war. He described how an MI6 contact known only as “Ronnie” enlisted him as an undercover asset in the Biafran region. Forsyth later carried out other covert tasks, including a secret rendezvous in communist East Germany with a Russian colonel at a Dresden museum.
Although never officially paid for his intelligence work, Forsyth said MI6 assisted him with research and vetted his manuscripts to ensure no classified material was disclosed.
In 1971, Forsyth rocketed to fame with his debut novel The Day of the Jackal, written in just over a month to pay off personal debts. The taut thriller — chronicling a fictional plot to assassinate French President Charles de Gaulle — became an instant success, was adapted into a hit film, and even inspired the nickname “Carlos the Jackal” for a notorious real-life terrorist.
Later in life, Forsyth became known for his outspoken political commentary, writing sharply conservative columns for the Daily Express and expressing staunchly anti-EU views.
Despite massive literary success, his financial life wasn’t without turbulence. He lost much of his fortune in an investment scam in the 1980s, prompting him to return to the keyboard to recover.
Forsyth was married twice — first to Carole Cunningham, with whom he had two sons, Stuart and Shane. The marriage ended in 1988. He later wed Sandy Molloy in 1994.
With input from Al Jazeera
