It's surprised me that no one has done a biography of Smith, at least not to my knowledge - he's had one of the great careers, an accountant who turned his passion for game hunting, literature and history into one of the great best selling authors.
Here are his memoirs - recalling life growing up in Africa with his adored father and mother (the dad comes across vividly the mother is just "lovely"), horrid boarding school, lively holidays shooting wildlife and getting lost in the bush, summer vacations working on boats, dull life as an accountant helping inspire him to write, best selling success from his first proper novel and never looking back, evenings in Rhodesia working for the local police.
I would have liked more on the movies - Smith novels had a brief vogue in the 60s and 70s but have been filmed surprisingly little... I think due to racial issues. Also Hollywood's never cared that much about Africa. He wrote a screenplay that wasn't used but movies were never his passion as he admits. He says Yvette Mimieux's performance in Dark of the Sun was brilliant!
He is good as ever on action - accounts of shooting lions and getting lost in the bush - and some great tips on writing (his philosophy). He's not great describing encounters with famous people - I get the impression that Smith is simply not that interested in them, or maybe doesn't know that many... he spends too much time researching, hunting and writing.
There is very little on his family - he writes sections on his latest wife but nothing on Danielle, who was with him for something like two decades and died of a brain tumour, or her kid, or on his issues with his own children.
So this is a very incomplete memoir but fans of Smith will get a lot out of it.
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