Popular Mystery Writer Dick Francis Dead

So far, it has not been a good year for writers and their avid readers. Dick Francis, a champion jockey for the British royal family who left racetrack to write crime fiction, died February 14 at the age of 89. Francis wrote 43 novels and sold more than 60 million books. His protagonists often were former jockeys. He won many awards for his novels, including the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Allan Poe Award an unprecedented three times. In the last several years, since his wife's death, Francis coauthored books with his son Felix. Their book, Even Money,was published last September. Their latest book, Crossfire, is scheduled to be released later this year. In his autobiography, The Sport of Queens, Francis wondered how he would be remembered: "I heard one man say to another, a little while ago,'who did you say that was? Dick Francis? Oh yes, he's the man who didn't win the National!' What an epitaph!"