by JO ABI
“It is with great sadness that I am writing to let you know that Jack of Diamonds, my new book due out in November this year, shall be my last.” – Bryce Courtenay
Bryce Courtenay helped shape the writer I am today. As a teenager I devoured The Power of One, Tandia and The Potato Factory, reading each several times. I didn’t stop to admire the prose, to scrutinize the writing techniques used because the stories Bryce Courtney told are so powerful, so emotive, so beautiful and sad. He will be Australia’s greatest writer.
Learning that Bryce Courtenay has passed with as much dignity as he can muster, agreeing to farewell interviews and calling his last novel Jack of Diamonds his farewell to the world, really took my breath away. How does one die like this? He was at peace, feeling that he has contributed to the world and staying calm about an outcome he can’t control.
“I have been diagnosed with terminal gastric cancer and am expected to have only some months to share with my adorable wife, Christine (Gee).”
My friend Donna and I fancy ourselves future novelists. We haven’t managed to finish a first draft yet but always comfort each other with the reminder that Bryce Courtenay didn’t experience his first real success until he was in his fifties with The Power of One. He purchased his own advertising campaign on buses and his book became a best-seller and then a world wide hit. He had been scared it wouldn’t sell.