DER SÜDAFRIKANISCHE SCHRIFTSTELLER WILBUR SMITH IST GESTORBEN

South African novelist Wilbur Smith has died at the age of 88. According to the statement on his Facebook page, Smith died on Saturday afternoon at his Cape Town home after a morning of reading and writing with his wife Niso by his side. The statement did not disclose the cause of death.

https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/sa-novelist-wilbur-smith-passes-away/

"Gave pleasure to millions"

He also used his vast experiences outside of Africa in places like Switzerland and rural Russia to help create his fictional worlds.

In his 2018 memoir "On Leopard Rock", Smith recounts having had "tough times, bad marriages… burnt the midnight oil getting nowhere", but it has, all in the end, added up to a phenomenally fulfilled and wonderful life.

"I want to be remembered as somebody who gave pleasure to millions," he wrote.

https://www.citizen.co.za/news/2908905/legendary-author-wilbur-smith-dies-aged-88/

Bestselling author Wilbur Smith dies aged 88

His 1964 debut novel "When the Lion Feeds", the tale of a young man growing up on a South African cattle ranch, became an instant bestseller and led to 15 sequels, tracing an ambitious family’s fortunes for more than 200 years.

http://web.archive.org/web/20211114051107/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/nov/14/bestselling-author-wilbur-smith-dies-aged-88

Kritik an seiner Perspektive als weisser Südafrikaner

Der Autor und seine Werke sahen sich (...) wiederholt auch Kritik ausgesetzt, die sich vor allem auf seine Perspektive als weisser Südafrikaner bezog. So warf ihm ein Autorenkollege vor, in seinen Büchern rassistische und sexistische Motive zu verbreiten. Ein anderer Kritiker beschuldigte Smith, in "Der Sonnenvogel" indirekt das rassistische südafrikanische Apartheid-Regime zu verteidigen. Die britische Zeitung "Daily Mail" schrieb 2017, Smiths Bücher seien ein "Strudel voll politischer Inkorrektheit, Sexismus, Gewalt, Frauenfeindlichkeit und Großwildjägerei".

fla / afp

https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/literatur/suedafrika-schriftsteller-wilbur-smith-ist-tot-a-6e295b42-7bc6-48a3-8101-c24a864552ab