迪克·弗朗西斯

迪克·弗朗西斯，CBE（Dick Francis，1920年10月31日—2010年2月14日）是英国著名的冠军级骑师及犯罪小说作家。

生平

弗朗西斯出生于威尔士，二战期间曾希望担任骑兵，结果被英国皇家空军征召，先后担任地勤人员及战斗机机师，其中六年在非洲服役。弗朗西斯在1946年于英国皇家空军退役，期后担任骑师，直至1957年。担任骑师时期，他共赢得超过350场比赛，更于1953-54年的赛季，成为冠军骑师，1957年，他在一场越野障碍赛中发生堕马意见，被迫退役。后来，他转职成为犯罪小说作家，1962年出版了第一本犯罪小说，生平著作超过40本，被翻译释成20多种语言，总销量超过6000万本，当中大部分作品的主题都是围绕赛马，是唯一曾三夺美国侦探推理小说家协会最佳小说奖的作家。弗朗西斯晚年身体状况变差，至2010年于开曼群岛的居所逝世。

Richard Stanley Francis (31 October 1920 – 14 February 2010) was a British steeplechase jockey and crime writer whose novels centre on horse racing in England.

After wartime service in the RAF, Francis became a full-time jump-jockey, winning over 350 races and becoming champion jockey of the British National Hunt. He came to further prominence in 1956 as jockey to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, riding her horse Devon Loch which fell when close to winning the Grand National. Francis retired from horseracing and became a journalist and novelist.

Many of his novels deal with crime in the horse-racing world, with some of the criminals being outwardly respectable figures. The stories are narrated by the main character, often a jockey, but sometimes a trainer, an owner, a bookmaker or someone in a different profession, peripherally linked to racing. This person always faces great obstacles, often including physical injury. More than forty of these novels became international best-sellers.

Personal life

Francis was born in Coedcanlas, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Some sources report his birthplace as the inland town of Lawrenny, but at least two of his obituaries stated his birthplace as the coastal town of Tenby. His autobiography says that he was born at his maternal grandparents' farm at Coedcanlas on the estuary of the River Cleddau, roughly a mile north-west of Lawrenny. His mother had likely returned to her parents' home to give birth, as was the custom. He was the son of a jockey and stable manager and his wife. Francis grew up in Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. He left school at 15 without any qualifications, intending to become a jockey; by the time he was 18, in 1938, he also was training horses.

In October 1945, he met Mary Margaret Brenchley (17 June 1924 – 30 September 2000) at a cousin's wedding. In most interviews, they commented that it was love at first sight. Their families were not entirely happy with their engagement, but the couple married in June 1947 in London. She had graduated with a degree in English and French from London University at the age of 19, was an assistant stage manager and later worked as a publisher's reader. She also became a pilot and her experience of flying contributed to many novels, including Flying Finish, Rat Race, and Second Wind. She contracted polio while pregnant with their first child. They had two sons, one of whom was Felix Francis (born 1953).

For nearly 30 years, Francis lived in Blewbury in Berkshire (now in Oxfordshire). In the 1980s, he and his wife moved to Florida in the United States. In 1992, they moved to the Cayman Islands, where Mary died of a heart attack in 2000. In 2006, Francis had a heart bypass operation; in 2007 his right foot was amputated. He died of natural causes on 14 February 2010, at his Caribbean home in Grand Cayman.

Second World War

During the Second World War, Francis volunteered, hoping to join the cavalry. Instead, he served in the Royal Air Force, initially as a member of ground crew and later piloting fighter and bomber aircraft, including the Spitfire and Hurricane fighters, and the Wellington and Lancaster bombers. He received an emergency commission as a pilot officer on 29 July 1944, and was promoted war-substantive flying officer on 29 January 1945. Much of his six-year service career was spent in Africa.

Horse racing career

After leaving the RAF in 1946, Francis became a highly successful jockey, reaching celebrity status in the world of British National Hunt racing. He won over 350 races, becoming champion jockey in the 1953–54 season.

Shortly after becoming a professional, he was offered the prestige job of first jockey to Vivian Smith, Lord Bicester.