One of my favourite authors, Leslie Thomas, best known for
his novel The Virgin Soldiers, died today aged 83.
Leslie Thomas's father was drowned when his
ship was torpedoed in 1943. His mother died soon afterwards from cancer, so
Leslie and his younger brother, Roy found themselves in a Dr. Barnardo's Home in
Newport, south Wales, an experience memorably described many years later in his
first autobiography This
Time Next Week.
Leslie had a successful career as a Fleet Street reporter
before he began writing novels. In 2004 he was awarded an OBE for services to
literature. His first novel, The VirginSoldiers, was inspired by Leslie Thomas' national service in Malaya and
describes the exploits of British soldiers based in the Far East. He went on to
write a further thirty successful novels, as well as travel books and his second biography In
My Wildest Dreams, published in 1984. During his lifetime his international
books sales were more than fourteen million.
I will remember Leslie Thomas for his great sense of humour
and talent for weaving the details of his life into some of my all-time
favourite novels.
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