Along the way, I have enjoyed a life that I could never have imagined. I have been privileged to meet people from all corners of the globe. I have been wherever my heart has desired and in the process my books have also taken readers to many, many places. I always say, I’ve started wars, I’ve burned down cities, and I’ve killed hundreds of thousands of people—but only in my imagination!
I don’t have to write anymore—I haven’t had to financially for a long time—but I continue to do so because I derive so much pleasure from storytelling. Stephen King once, very kindly, said, “You can get lost in Wilbur Smith’s world.” Well I get lost in Wilbur Smith’s world too. At one stage in my life I was really excited by danger: I flew, drove fast cars, dated faster women, hunted dangerous animals, all the activities that pushed me to the edge of the precipice. I’ve had tough times, bad marriages, people I loved dearly dying in my arms, burned the midnight oil getting nowhere, but it has all, in the end, added up to a phenomenally fulfilled and wonderful life with a woman who has become my soulmate in the autumn of my days.
My goal now is to write until I turn 100, living with the same zest as I imbue the characters in my books. I want to be remembered as somebody who gave pleasure to millions and had a wonderful time doing it. I look back on my life and I don’t have any regrets. Right now, in late life, as autumn leaves turn gold, burnished brown, blazing orange, I’m having so much fun. I won’t stop writing until I stop breathing and even then, the lid of the coffin will creak open and a bony claw will emerge and write THE END. As Hilaire Belloc wrote: “When I am dead, I hope it may be said: ‘His sins were scarlet but his books were read.’”
APPENDIX
The Monarch of the Ilungu
Wilbur Smith
(twelve years old)
Dawn, gray and somber, stole softly across the terrible swamps that stood guard to the Ilungu forests. A leechuwee barked softly at the dawning day and a flight of wild ducks whistled swiftly overhead. A moorhen gave its harsh cry and a goose settled unwarily on the glittering reed-studded water—a slight splash and a startled cry as the bird disappeared in the crystal waters; a few feathers, driving slowly across the surface, marked its grave. A second later a crocodile pushed its hideous snout above the surface and then with a swirl it was gone.
Two days travel across this dreary waste and the glistening tree-tops of the Ilungu rose on the barren horizon. This was the domain of the king of the elephants, the Monarch of the Ilungu. His gnarled shafts of ivory, as thick as a man’s thigh, had battered man and beast alike to shapeless pulp and had thrown to earth trees whose mightily balks would have balked a charge of dynamite; while, lodged beneath his seared and furrowed hide, were six primitive arrow-heads and a hunk of lead that had left the muzzle of a Gibbs 450 high velocity rifle traveling at 3,000 yards per second; but the man who had fired it paid dearly, he had borne the whole fury of those smashing ivory shafts and pounding hoofs.
Then, for three months, the old bull lay on the brink of death, groaning horribly and sucking short gasping breaths; with only the strength in his wasted frame to drag himself down the slight slope to the water hole. At last he could stand and for three more months he stayed resting and feeding while his gaunt frame filled out and the same weariness and cunning attended his movements that had been there six months before that journey through the swamp.
Now he sallied out to find his herd, rumbling deep in his throat and grazing steadily along. He came upon them a wee bit later. It was dawn. Dew sparkled on the grass and trees; while the monkeys chattered shrilly from the branches and a lion heralded the day with a long low roar.
The herd stood in among the trees, the cows sleepily fanning their ears back and forth and the calves noisily having breakfast. The old bull squealed his delight but the herd hesitated to come to him. He called again and this time he saw the reason for the uncertainty; another bull left the herd and slowly strode in his direction, swaying slightly from side to side—a huge bull this, with 120 lbs. of tusk gleaming dully in the new light, his rugged gray coat scarred and torn and his eyes gleaming redly as he came on, rumbling a challenge.
The big bull hesitated; then went in, catching the youngster’s tusk in his trunk and ripping it out by the roots; using this as a weapon, he beat the other to his knees.
Ten minutes later the clearing was deserted except for a ring of vultures surrounding it and a pair of jackals who had come across the scene of carnage and now fought greedily over the battered flesh.
Half a mile away the old bull grumbled with content and led his regained herd down to the swamp.
INDEX
(the initials WS refer to Wilbur Smith)
Achebe, Chinua, 313
Achilles, 183
Africa:
romance of, 35
safari hunting in, 3–4
African buffalo, see Cape buffalo
An African Journal (Hemingway), 185
African National Congress (ANC), 97, 206, 210, 212, 215, 217, 224
Ali Kamel Fahmy Bey, Prince, 232
All Blacks, 222
Alty, Dr. Thomas, 72–3
ANC Youth League, 212
Andrews, Jacobus Michael Charles, 215
The Angels Weep (Smith), 200, 255
apartheid (see also Mandela, Nelson):
and ANC, 96–7, 206, 208
and Botha, 209
end of, and positive changes for WS, 217
and Gold, 147–8, 152
and PAC, 96–7
Pick on, 131, 222
and Springboks, 221–2
stigma of, 221
taint of, 131
WS decides to tackle, 207
Argosy, 25–6, 28
As You Like It (Shakespeare), 71
Bailey, Col., 225
Baker, Stanley, 143
Barnard, Dr. Christian, 218
Barrow, 255
Barry (friend), 42–53, 54, 57, 178–9
Battle of Britain, 126–7, 132, 204
bears, 248–52
Beckett, Samuel, 295
Bell, Karamojo, 7, 191–2
Belloc, Hilaire, 315
Ben Gurion, David, 135
Beyers, Justice, 97–8
Big Hole, 93
Biggles (Johns), 32, 34, 126, 312
Biko, Steve, 209
Birds of Prey (Smith), 172–3, 274, 277, 283
Black Consciousness Movement, 209
Black Hawk Down, 285
black mamba, 38–42, 43–4, 284
Blair, Tony, 218
Blücher, 147, 154
Bono, 218
Botha, Boots, 112, 113, 115–18
Botha, P. W., 209
Boyun, Joy Gould, 150
Bradbury, Ray, 26
British South Africa Police, 202–4
Brown, Jim, 145
Buchan, John, 35
Bunting, Brian, 96
Bureau of State Security (BOSS), 216–17
Burmese Days (Orwell), 296
Burnham, Frederick Russell, 200
The Burning Shore (Smith), 115, 158, 173, 207, 304–5
TV film of, see Mountain of Diamonds
Burroughs, Edgar Rice, 26
Butler, Colin, 27
Bvumba, 163
Caine, Michael, 144, 159
Cairo, 233–4, 235, 238, 256
Canby, Vincent, 150
Cannery Row (Steinbeck), 263
Cap Colibri:
described, 272, 277
first sight of, 273
Cape buffalo, 52–4, 186
Cardiff, Jack, 145
Carlin, John, 218
Carter, Howard, 231–2, 234
Central African Republic, 182, 219
Cerf Island (see also Seychelles):
fish off, 278
memories attached to, 278
secret of, 273–4
Charles Pick Consultancy, 305 (see also Pick, Charles)
Choy, Capt. Cornelius, 256
Churchill, Winston, 146, 182
Cinematograph, Television and Allied Technicians’ Union (ACTT), 147, 152
City of the Dead, 234
Cleland, John, 96
Cloete, Stuart, 103–4
Cohen, David, 270
Cold War, 208–9
Cordwalles boarding school, 58–62 (see also Smith, Wilbur: schooldays of)
library of, 60
WS enrolled at, 58
WS’s form prize at, 61–2
Cry Wolf (Smith), 105
Currey, Hillary, 109–19
Damon, Matt, 218
The Dark of the Sun (Smith), 83, 100, 201, 253, 308
banning of, 100
and censorship relaxation, 104
and cinema, 145
launched in US, 253
de Klerk, F. W., 209, 214, 224
Dean, James, 264
Democratic Republic of Congo, 219
The Diamond Hunters (Smith), 118, 159, 163
and cinema, 94
as mini-series, 158
research for, 92–3
diamonds:
creation of, 93
and WS’s research, 92
Dickens, Charles, 224, 297
Dickens, Monica, 297
Diemont, Justice, 97–8
Doubleday Bookstore, 303–4
Douglas-Reid, Sir Archibald, 232
Drysdale, Andrew, 133
In Dubious Battle (Steinbeck), 263
Duncan, G., 98
Duncan, Patrick, 96
Durrell, Lawrence, 26, 312
Eagle in the Sky (Smith), 105, 131, 133, 253
and Israel, 137–8
launched in US, 253
release and success of, 144
research for, 133–8, 235
WS’s screenplay for, 156
East of Eden (Steinbeck), 263
Eastwood, Clint, 218
Egyptian Museum, 234–5
El Alamein, 236
Elephant Song (Smith), 188, 189–90
Endurance, 120
England, Edward, 275
Equity, 148
The Eye of the Tiger (Smith), 118, 144, 237, 272
A Falcon Flies (Smith), 199, 200
Fanny Hill (Cleland), 96
Faure Williamson, A., 101
For Whom the Bell Tolls (Hemingway), 263
fishing-boat work, 109–17
Fitzpatrick, James Percy, 38, 144
Forbes, Mr. (teacher), 60–2
Forde, Dudley, 69–70
Forester, C. S., 21, 26, 35, 62, 67, 312
Forever Amber (Winsor), 60
Forsyth, Frederick, 304
Freeman, Morgan, 218
Geldof, Bob, 218
Gerhard, Dieter, 213
Get Carter, 144
Giza, 235
glasnost, 208
Globe, 224
The Gods First Make Mad (Smith—rejected novel), 22, 23, 25, 26, 223, 295
Golan Heights, 137
Gold, 147, 151, 152, 156 (see also Gold Mine)
and censors, 149
and critics, 156
released, 149
Gold Mine (Smith), 79, 85, 91, 92, 94, 144, 149, 159, 163, 253
and bestseller lists, 147
censors pleased by, 104
and cinema, see Gold
launched in US, 253
Golden Fox (Smith), 173, 210–13, 222, 309
Golding, William, 313
Gone with the Wind (Mitchell), 313
Goodyear Tire and Rubber, 76
Gordimer, Nadine, 222–3
Gordon Davis, John, 82–3
Gould, George Jay, 232
The Grapes of Wrath (Steinbeck), 263
Great Barrier Reef, 155, 256
Great Zimbabwe, 161–3, 164, 166, 231
Green Hills of Africa (Hemingway), 189, 263
Greene, Graham, 26, 56
Grey, Zane, 312
Haggard, H. Rider, ii, 7, 21, 35, 162, 166, 200, 243, 312
Halt All Racist Tours (HART), 221–4
Harry Potter . . . (Rowling), 313
Hassan, Muhammad Abdullah, 285
Hawaii, 256
Hawkins, Jack, 151
Hector, 183
Hemingway, Ernest, xi, 4, 21, 62, 185, 186, 189, 226, 258, 263, 291, 310, 312
on writing, 310
Henderson, Chick, 64
Herbert, George (Lord Carnarvon), 231–2
“High Flight” (Magee), 11
Hillary, Richard, 127
HJ Smith and Son, 179
Hodges, Mike, 144
Hold My Hand I’m Dying (Gordon Davis), 83
Holm, Ian, 154
Homer, 19, 183
Hungry as the Sea (Smith), 123
Hunt, Peter, 149, 150, 151
hunting, 185–93
and ancient Greeks and Romans, 186
and conservation, 4, 182, 186, 193
Hemingway on, 189
impulse, 6
as part of ecosystem, 185
as way of life, 37
in WS’s books, 188–90
WS’s grandfather on, 188
“If” (Kipling), 312
Inglourious Basterds, 146
Introduction to Modern English and American Literature (Maugham), 62
Invictus, 218
Inyanga Mountains, 81–2, 83–4, 189, 201, 308
Israel, 134–9
Israeli Air Force, 134, 136
Jean-Claude (boatman), 278, 283, 284
Jock of the Bushveld (Fitzpatrick), 38, 144
Johannesburg gold mines:
and education, 90–1
and racial harmony, 148
and WS’s research, 79–92
Johannesburg Star, 149
John Ross, 123
Johnson, Boris, 242
Judith (estate manageress), 267, 271–2
Just William (Crompton), 32, 34, 312
Kafue River, 29, 31, 45, 111, 126, 130, 132, 169, 178
Kalahari, 233
Kaunda, Kenneth, 42, 219
Kenny, Andrew, 222–3, 224
King, Larry, 76
King Solomon’s Mines (Haggard), 32
King, Stephen, 314
Kingfisher, 112–21
Kipling, Rudyard, 184, 309, 312
Klinger, Michael, 143–4, 147, 148, 151, 152, 166
kudu antelope, 4, 45–6, 47, 49, 187, 227, 228
KwaZulu-Natal, 63, 219
Lady Chatterley’s Lover (Lawrence), 312
L’Amour, Louis, 312
Lanner falcon, 43
Las Vegas, 252–3
The Last Enemy (Hillary), 127
The Last Lion, 151, 189
Lawrence, D. H., 312
Lawrence, Steven, 25–6
Lee, Sky-High, 76–7
Leibrandt, Robey, 207
The Leopard Hunts in Darkness (Smith), 108, 196, 197–8, 200, 205, 206–7, 255
Leopard Rock, 200, 227–8
JS sells, 282
Livingstone, David, 182, 200
Lord, Dick, 133
Lord of the Flies (Golding), 313
Los Angeles Times, 102, 149
Luangwa Valley, 12–13
Lubowski, Anton, 213
Luderitz, 93
Luftwaffe, 126
Luxor, 229, 236
Madiba, see Mandela, Nelson
Madikizela-Mandela, Winnie, 211
Madonsela, Thuli, 183
Magee, John Gillespie, 11
Mailer, Norman, 288
Mandela, Nelson, 182, 218
becomes president, 209
illness and death of, 220
jailed, 97, 206, 208, 220
released, 131, 209, 210, 218, 224
and Rugby World Cup, 218
steps down from presidency, 210
as WS’s hero, 218, 220
Mandela United FC, 212
Mandela, Winnie, see Madikizela-Mandela, Winnie
Manderson, Tim, 297
Margo,
Cecil, 134
marlin, 155–6, 256–9
Marvin, Lee, 147, 151, 152, 155–9, 256
Matoka, Peter Jr., 42
Matoka, Peter Sr., 15–16, 18, 42, 169
Maugham, W. Somerset, 62
Men of Men (Smith), 200
The Mercenaries, 145–6 (see also The Dark of the Sun)
MGM, 102, 147
Michaelhouse school, 58–70, 109, 160 (see also Smith, Wilbur: schooldays of)
cycle of violence in, 64–5
and sporting distinctions, 69
WS enrolled at, see Smith, Wilbur: schooldays of
WS establishes magazine at, 66
Mimieux, Yvette, 145
Mitchell, James, 242–3
Mitchell, Margaret, 313
Mobutu Sese Seko, 219
Moffat, John, 200
Moffat Mission, 199–200
Moffat, Robert, 200
‘The Monarch of the Ilungu’ (Smith), 317–19
“The Monarch of the Ilungu” (Smith), 61–2, 298
reproduced as appendix, 317–19
Moore, Luisa, 152
Moore, Roger, 147–8, 149, 150–1, 152–4, 156, 159
Morley, Sheridan, 144
Mountain of Diamonds, 158
Mugabe, Robert, 201, 205, 216, 219
Müller, Siegfried, 145
Namib Desert, 109, 164, 207, 233
Namibia, 90, 93, 110
Natal Mounted Rifles, 38
National Steinbeck Center, 263–4
New York Times, i, 131, 150
News Hour, 222
Nile, 164, 234, 240, 242
modern dam across, 235–7
Niven, Cecily, 144
Nobel Prize, 56, 222–3
Nofal, Emil, 145
The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway), 62, 258
“On Flinders’ Face” (Smith), 25–8, 92
Ord, George, 250
Orwell, George, 87, 296–7
Ossewa Brandwag, 225
O’Toole, Peter, 143, 230
Page, Geoffrey, 128
Palestine, 136
Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), 96–7, 206
Pan Macmillan, 81, 107, 305–6
Pelser, Quintus, 105
Perelman, S. J., 26
Pick, Charles, 56, 100, 104, 131, 143, 159, 221, 253, 296–300, 305
as WS’s agent, 305–6
Pick, Martin, 299
Pienaar, Francois, 218
Playboy, 96
Playing the Enemy (Carlin), 218
polio, 55, 69
political correctness, 182
The Power of the Sword (Smith), 207