Dick Francis (1920 – 2010)

The bestselling thriller writer Dick Francis has died at the age of 89. Francis was a former professional jockey who famously rode Devon’s Loch, the Queen Mother’s horse in the 1956 Grand National. His novels, set in the world of horse racing, were derived directly from his own experiences. Yet throughout his literary career, Francis was dogged with rumours that his wife secretly wrote all of his novels. You can read the Guardian obituary of Francis here and the Telegraph obituary here.