Prolific author Bryce Courtenay has died aged 79, just 2 weeks after the publication of his twentieth novel titled, Jack of Diamonds. Although born in South Africa he immigrated to Australia in 1959. His fiction is set mainly in Australia, with four novels set in South Africa. His first novel, The Power of One, set in the country of his birth, was published in 1989 and became an immediate best seller, launching his career as a very popular, best selling author. His only non-fictional work, April Fool’s day: a modern tragedy, published in 1993, was based on the death of his son in 1991.