Dick Francis dies Dick Francis, best-selling thriller writer and rider of Devon Loch, has died at the age of 89, his family said on Sunday. His son, Felix, said he was "devastated" as he paid tribute to his "extraordinary" father. Francis, from Oxfordshire, the author of 42 novels, was "rightly acclaimed" as one of the greatest thriller writers in the world, his spokesman said. Francis was the man aboard the Queen Mother's Devon Loch in the 1956 Grand National at Aintree. The horse's collapse 50 yards from the winning post with the race in his grasp remains one of the great mysteries of the turf. Francis, who was living on the Cayman Islands in his later years, died of "old age". Son Felix added: "My brother, Merrick, and I are, of course, devastated by the loss of our father, but we rejoice in having been the sons of such an extraordinary man. "We share in the joy that he brought to so many over such a long life. It is an honour for me to be able to continue his remarkable legacy through the new novels." Francis wrote a volume of short stories, an autobiography and the biography of Lester Piggott. Even Money, written with Felix, was published in September 2009 and Crossfire, the new Dick and Felix Francis novel, will be published in autumn 2010. He retired from racing in 1957 and took up writing, first for the Sunday Express and then, in 1962, with the novels. Francis also had a distinguished military career, serving the RAF in 1940, initially stationed in the Egyptian desert before he was commissioned as a pilot in 1943. His wife, Mary, to whom he was married for 53 years, died in 2000. He also had five grandchildren and one great grandson. There will be a small funeral at his home in Grand Cayman, followed by a memorial service in London in due course, his spokesman said.
