Felix Francis Views
Francis' manager (and co-author of his later books) was his son Felix Francis, who left his post as teacher of A-Level Physics at Bloxham School in Oxfordshire in order to work for his father and who was the inspiration behind a leading character in the novel Twice Shy. His other son Merrick, formerly a racehorse trainer, later ran his own horse transport business, which inspired the novel Driving Force.
Felix Francis is the son of one of Britain's most popular authors. As the son of Dick Francis he enjoyed a 'celebrity' childhood but was terrifed of the Queen Mother! People always ask me: 'What's it like to have a famous father?' Well the answer to that is: 'It's great fun, but I don't know what it's like not to.' My father was champion jockey the year I was born, and Devon Loch collapsed underneath him in the 1956 Grand National catapulting the name of Dick Francis from the back pages to the front pages. Then the first novel Dead Cert was published when I was eight, explains Felix Francis. I grew up in a fiction factory, the conversation over breakfast wasn't about who was doing the school run, it was about whether Sid Halley would survive the night with a 38 slug in his guts and the blood dripping through a crack in the linoleum floor
Dick Francis is not so much an individual nowadays, although it is my father, but my father was always called Richard Francis by my mother, explains Felix. I always used to think that Dick Francis was the two of them together, and now Dick Francis is the two of us together. Increasingly now I do the writing and he vetoes anything he doesn't like
Former steeplechase jockey Dick Francis is one of the most popular thriller writers in the world. His bestselling novels center around the world of horse racing. His son, Felix, has co-authored novels with his father under the Dick Francis name since 1986. Horse Illustrated columnist Kitson Jazynka interviewed Dick and Felix Francis for the October 2009 issue.
Felix Francis Images
