Bryce Courtenay: Australia's master storyteller
By Tim Ayliffe
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-23/bryce-courtenay/4388240
Bryce Courtenay, the popular Australian author who sold more than 20 million books, has died after losing his battle with stomach cancer. He was aged 79.
Born in South Africa, Courtenay burst onto the literary scene with his first novel, The Power Of One, in 1989.
The novel, about a child's journey to adulthood under South Africa's apartheid regime, has sold more than 8 million copies and been translated into 18 languages. It was also made into a Hollywood film.
Courtenay published 20 novels and the non-fiction book April Fool's Day – a personal account of his son Damon's battle with the AIDS virus he contracted during a routine blood transfusion to treat his haemophilia.
His final novel, Jack Of Diamonds, came out this month.
Courtenay said writing April Fool's Day, published in 1993, was the single hardest thing he ever had to do. He wrote it as part of Damon's dying wish to dispel the myths surrounding HIV/AIDS at the time.
It was by Damon's bedside that Courtenay had begun writing The Power Of One at the age of 55.
When he finished, the novel sat bundled up beside his kitchen door while he summoned the courage to begin shopping it around to publishers.
Before becoming a writer, Courtenay spent more than 30 years in advertising in Sydney.
That experience may have had some influence on his popular writing style and his steadfast belief that his success as a writer should be measured by the number of people who read his stories.
Despite selling more than 20 million books, Courtenay was never courted by the literary establishment, with critics either ignoring or panning his work for decades.
He lashed out on a number of occasions at the "inane literacy [sic] snobbery" of writers like Peter Carey, who suggested that his brand of popular fiction contributed to a so-called dumbing down of Australia - a claim which Courtenay denounced as "absolute *smile*".
Courtenay always argued the opposite was true – that he had contributed to the intelligence of the nation by encouraging millions of people who had never enjoyed reading to pick up a novel.
"What's the point in being an unpopular writer?" he told me during an interview in his home in 2011. "It just doesn't make a lot of sense. For me it doesn't, anyway.
"I am essentially an entertainer and a storyteller."
Maybe it was this long-held view of himself as a popular fiction writer that led to accusations that he had told lies about his childhood.
His sister, Rosemary, disputed the amount of time he spent growing up in an orphanage in South Africa and whether or not he had won a scholarship at school.
Indeed, some of the tales he shared about his childhood were so incredible that they did appear stranger than fiction: like learning to read English in less than three months, or his ability to ward off a beating by bigger boys at school with a promise of telling them an entertaining tale.
Courtenay never properly addressed the allegations, only saying: "One of the joys of having left a country where things were not always right for me and having come to a country where I've been able to give my utmost is [that] I want to be known for the years I've been in Australia, not for the 17 years I spent in Africa.
"Judge me on what I have done here and what I have said here and what I have been here and what contribution, if any, I've made whilst I've been here.
"That's what concerns me, not my childhood."
Many of those close to him were strident in his defence, while others merely said 'Who cares?' and 'What does it matter?'.
But no-one has disputed the fact that Courtenay had a difficult upbringing in South Africa.
He was born illegitimately in a hillbilly town in the present-day Limpopo province.
Having spent time in orphanages, reform schools and - as a teenager - working in mines, he learned from an early age to make his own luck.
But he did single out the influence of a teacher named Miss Bornstein. She taught him to love reading and helped him pursue a scholarship at a school in Johannesburg.
Miss Bornstein was the inspiration for The Power Of One, a story he told me was about one person's ability to touch another and empower them to help themselves.
In 1953, with the money that he had saved from working in coal mines, he travelled to London where he studied journalism. It was also where he met his first wife, Benita.
The couple moved to Australia in 1958, where he began working in advertising. A few years later he and Benita were married and decided to start a family. The couple had three children: Adam, Brett and Damon.
No matter what you may think about Courtenay's personal story, there is no disputing his knack for story-telling and his unique ability to give his readers what they wanted.
He wrote five novels about Africa, including Tandia, a sequel to The Power Of One, and Whitethorn, which he said bore the closest resemblance to his difficult upbringing in an orphanage.
He also wrote many books about his beloved adopted home of Australia, including the Australian Trilogy: The Potato Factory, Thommo & Hawk and Solomon's Song.
Courtenay approached his craft with an enviable discipline impressive even for a man who finished 36 marathons.
He wrote for 12 hours, six days a week, for seven months of the year so his latest story was always in the bookshops by Christmas.
He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1995 and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Canberra in October 2012.
Courtenay said he was never interested in longevity, and predicted that his work would one day disappear like "footsteps on a beach".
"My job isn't there to sit in a library for perhaps 100 years. My job is essentially that of an entertainer, no different to that of a musician, no different to that of an actor. I just happen to be an author."
After more than two decades of penning best-selling novels, Courtenay – the writer – has left a set of footsteps that will take a mighty tide to wash away.
Courtenay is survived by his second wife Christine Gee and his children Adam and Brett.
Here is a full list of Courtenay's published works:
The Power of One (1989)
Tandia (1992)
April Fool's Day (1993) (non-fiction)
A Recipe for Dreaming (1994)
The Potato Factory (1995)
Tommo & Hawk (1997)
The Family Frying Pan (1997)
The Night Country (1998)
Jessica (1998)
Solomon's Song (1999)
Smoky Joe's Cafe (2001)
Four Fires (2001)
Matthew Flinders' Cat (2002)
Brother Fish (2004)
Whitethorn (2005)
Sylvia (2006)
The Persimmon Tree (2007)
Fishing for Stars (2008)
The Story of Danny Dunn (2009)
Fortune Cookie (2010)
Jack of Diamonds (2012)
By Tim Ayliffe
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-23/bryce-courtenay/4388240
Bryce Courtenay, the popular Australian author who sold more than 20 million books, has died after losing his battle with stomach cancer. He was aged 79.
Born in South Africa, Courtenay burst onto the literary scene with his first novel, The Power Of One, in 1989.
The novel, about a child's journey to adulthood under South Africa's apartheid regime, has sold more than 8 million copies and been translated into 18 languages. It was also made into a Hollywood film.
Courtenay published 20 novels and the non-fiction book April Fool's Day – a personal account of his son Damon's battle with the AIDS virus he contracted during a routine blood transfusion to treat his haemophilia.
His final novel, Jack Of Diamonds, came out this month.
Courtenay said writing April Fool's Day, published in 1993, was the single hardest thing he ever had to do. He wrote it as part of Damon's dying wish to dispel the myths surrounding HIV/AIDS at the time.
It was by Damon's bedside that Courtenay had begun writing The Power Of One at the age of 55.
When he finished, the novel sat bundled up beside his kitchen door while he summoned the courage to begin shopping it around to publishers.
Before becoming a writer, Courtenay spent more than 30 years in advertising in Sydney.
That experience may have had some influence on his popular writing style and his steadfast belief that his success as a writer should be measured by the number of people who read his stories.
Despite selling more than 20 million books, Courtenay was never courted by the literary establishment, with critics either ignoring or panning his work for decades.
He lashed out on a number of occasions at the "inane literacy [sic] snobbery" of writers like Peter Carey, who suggested that his brand of popular fiction contributed to a so-called dumbing down of Australia - a claim which Courtenay denounced as "absolute *smile*".
Courtenay always argued the opposite was true – that he had contributed to the intelligence of the nation by encouraging millions of people who had never enjoyed reading to pick up a novel.
"What's the point in being an unpopular writer?" he told me during an interview in his home in 2011. "It just doesn't make a lot of sense. For me it doesn't, anyway.
"I am essentially an entertainer and a storyteller."
Maybe it was this long-held view of himself as a popular fiction writer that led to accusations that he had told lies about his childhood.
His sister, Rosemary, disputed the amount of time he spent growing up in an orphanage in South Africa and whether or not he had won a scholarship at school.
Indeed, some of the tales he shared about his childhood were so incredible that they did appear stranger than fiction: like learning to read English in less than three months, or his ability to ward off a beating by bigger boys at school with a promise of telling them an entertaining tale.
Courtenay never properly addressed the allegations, only saying: "One of the joys of having left a country where things were not always right for me and having come to a country where I've been able to give my utmost is [that] I want to be known for the years I've been in Australia, not for the 17 years I spent in Africa.
"Judge me on what I have done here and what I have said here and what I have been here and what contribution, if any, I've made whilst I've been here.
"That's what concerns me, not my childhood."
Many of those close to him were strident in his defence, while others merely said 'Who cares?' and 'What does it matter?'.
But no-one has disputed the fact that Courtenay had a difficult upbringing in South Africa.
He was born illegitimately in a hillbilly town in the present-day Limpopo province.
Having spent time in orphanages, reform schools and - as a teenager - working in mines, he learned from an early age to make his own luck.
But he did single out the influence of a teacher named Miss Bornstein. She taught him to love reading and helped him pursue a scholarship at a school in Johannesburg.
Miss Bornstein was the inspiration for The Power Of One, a story he told me was about one person's ability to touch another and empower them to help themselves.
In 1953, with the money that he had saved from working in coal mines, he travelled to London where he studied journalism. It was also where he met his first wife, Benita.
The couple moved to Australia in 1958, where he began working in advertising. A few years later he and Benita were married and decided to start a family. The couple had three children: Adam, Brett and Damon.
No matter what you may think about Courtenay's personal story, there is no disputing his knack for story-telling and his unique ability to give his readers what they wanted.
He wrote five novels about Africa, including Tandia, a sequel to The Power Of One, and Whitethorn, which he said bore the closest resemblance to his difficult upbringing in an orphanage.
He also wrote many books about his beloved adopted home of Australia, including the Australian Trilogy: The Potato Factory, Thommo & Hawk and Solomon's Song.
Courtenay approached his craft with an enviable discipline impressive even for a man who finished 36 marathons.
He wrote for 12 hours, six days a week, for seven months of the year so his latest story was always in the bookshops by Christmas.
He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1995 and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Canberra in October 2012.
Courtenay said he was never interested in longevity, and predicted that his work would one day disappear like "footsteps on a beach".
"My job isn't there to sit in a library for perhaps 100 years. My job is essentially that of an entertainer, no different to that of a musician, no different to that of an actor. I just happen to be an author."
After more than two decades of penning best-selling novels, Courtenay – the writer – has left a set of footsteps that will take a mighty tide to wash away.
Courtenay is survived by his second wife Christine Gee and his children Adam and Brett.
Here is a full list of Courtenay's published works:
The Power of One (1989)
Tandia (1992)
April Fool's Day (1993) (non-fiction)
A Recipe for Dreaming (1994)
The Potato Factory (1995)
Tommo & Hawk (1997)
The Family Frying Pan (1997)
The Night Country (1998)
Jessica (1998)
Solomon's Song (1999)
Smoky Joe's Cafe (2001)
Four Fires (2001)
Matthew Flinders' Cat (2002)
Brother Fish (2004)
Whitethorn (2005)
Sylvia (2006)
The Persimmon Tree (2007)
Fishing for Stars (2008)
The Story of Danny Dunn (2009)
Fortune Cookie (2010)
Jack of Diamonds (2012)
