Bryce Courtenay (14 August, 1933 – 22 November, 2012) was one of Australia’s bestselling novelist known for his sweeping historical sagas.
Fun Facts about Bryce Courtenay:
1. Arthur Bryce Courtenay was born in Lebombo Mountains of South Africa. His father, Arthur Ryder was already married to another woman whom he had six children with. His mother Maude Greer still had a relationship with him and gave to surname Courtenay to her son and daughter, Rosemary.
2. Mr. Courtenay finished his schooling in South Africa and by 1955 found himself studying journalism in London. He met Benita Solomon there, and they emigrated to Sydney, Australian in 1958. The couple had one son together, who tragically passed away at age 24, they got divorced in 2000, and Bonita passed away at age 72.
3. Mr. Courtenay started working in advertising, and kept working in the field for the next 34 years. He wan many advertising awards as a creative director and credits his time in the industry for honing his writing speed and business acumen.
4. He published his first novel, The Power of One, in 1989 at age 55. The book quickly became a huge seller going on to sell 8 million copies and translated into 18 languages.
5. This very successful debut set a template for many of the books Bryce Courtenay was going to write. That of a classic coming of age tale with complex characters overcoming adversity.
6. Mr. Courtenay took his job writing very seriously. He sometimes wrote 12 hours a day and managed to publish one massive book almost every year of his writing career (21 books in 23 years).
7. These huge books weren’t your run of the military historical fiction. They were heavily researched, layered, and involved generational storylines.
8. As a former advertising professional, he knew how to market himself aggressively. He gave 2,500 books for free to people he met on the street, and connecting directly with his readers.
9. Bryce Courtenay’s books were sometimes shot down by critics and academics, labeling them as “pulp”. Mr. Courtenay didn’t care, he only wanted readers to love his book and the sales numbers proved that he did.
10. In 2010 the Australia post named Bryce Courtenay as a Literary Legend, celebrating his contributions by honoring him with a stamp.
Zohar — Man of la Book
*Amazon links point to an affiliate account
Sources:
Bryce Courtenay | Wikipedia
