Sir Terry Pratchett, best known for the Discworld series, wrote more than 70 books over his long career. Several of the books were adapted for successful stage and television productions. The best received television productions were the Hogfather, The Colour of Magic and Going Postal.
Sir Terry was first diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2007. However, he continued writing and completed his final book during the summer of 2014 (he wrote two books a year on average.) The writer passed away at his home on March 12, with his family by his side and his cat sleeping on his bed.
Although Pratchett wrote on a range of subjects, both fiction and non-fiction, it is for the creation of Discworld for which he will be best remembered. Discworld is a comic fantasy book series which stretches to some 40 books. Discworld is an imaginary world that looks like a disc carried on the backs of four elephants, which in turn rest on the pockmarked shell of a giant turtle called the Great A’Tuin.
Although each of the stories are largely independent, save for a few story arcs, the character of Death appears in most of the novels. Death is depicted as a seven-foot-tall skeleton, clad in a black robe and who sits astride a pale horse (named Binky). It is for the ubiquity of this character that Pratchett’s family, using the official Twitter feed, tweeted:
“Terry took Death’s arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night.”
Pratchett’s publisher, Larry Finlay of Transworld Publishers’ is quoted by the BBC as saying: “The world has lost one of its brightest, sharpest minds. “In over 70 books, Terry enriched the planet like few before him. As all who read him know, Discworld was his vehicle to satirize this world. He did so brilliantly, with great skill, enormous humour and constant invention.”
Speaking of Sir Terry’s illness, Finlay added: “Terry faced his Alzheimer’s disease publicly and bravely. Over the last few years, it was his writing that sustained him. His legacy will endure for decades to come.”
Shortly before he died, Terry Pratchett himself said: “It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it’s called Life.” This phrase was tweeted by Penguin Books on the announcement of his passing.
