Australian author Bryce Courtenay has been given just months to live after being diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer, it has been announced.
The Award winning South African-born author announced the news via his official Facebook page saying: “It is with great sadness that I am writing to let you know that ‘Jack of Diamonds’ my new book due out in November this year shall be my last. It is the usual big, bulky Bryce Courtenay saga, and I do hope you enjoy reading it. I have been diagnosed with terminal gastric cancer and am expected to have only some months to share with my adorable wife Christine. We have had the good fortune to have been together for seven wonderfully happy years, and so the remaining months are precious to us, and our family and friends. You will be pleased to know that I am currently feeling well, and am keeping busy gardening, and writing a collection of short stories, as well as being with our beloved pets. May I thank you all for your tremendous loyalty over the past 21 books. I feel immense gratitude and am humbled by your support over so many years. Our greatest wish is that your lives also continue to blossom. Goodbye and God Bless from us both.”
Courtenay is best known for his 1989 novel The Power of One, which was later turned into a major motion picture, and the deeply personal nonfiction effort April Fool’s Day, which details his youngest son Damon Courtenay’s death from AIDS after a botched blood transfusion.
His last book, Jack of Diamonds, will be released in November.
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