On Leopard Rock Read online

  Prebble, John, 143

  Publishers Weekly, ii, 243

  The Quest (Smith), ii, 243–4

  Rage (Smith), 195, 207–11, 213, 221–4

  Rakhimova, Mokhiniso, see Smith, Niso

  Rand Daily Mail, 96

  Rand Easter Show, 76

  Reader’s Digest, 80, 95

  Redford, Robert, 254

  Rhodes, Cecil, 200

  Rhodes University, 71–5 passim, 82, 109, 118 (see also Smith, Wilbur: university life of)

  Rhodesia, see Zimbabwe

  Rhodesian Bush War, 189, 196, 202

  Rhodesian Front, 83

  Rhodesian Special Forces, 189

  Richardson, Jerry, 211–12

  The Rise of the South African Reich (Bunting), 96

  River God (Smith), 239–43, 277

  The Road to Wigan Pier (Orwell), 87

  Robben Island, 97, 206, 208, 211

  Roosevelt, Franklin D. (FDR), 182

  Rowling, J. K., 313

  Rugby World Cup, 218

  Rumpff, F., 101

  Sacks, Aaron, 135–6

  Safmarine, 123

  Saint Phalle, Therese de, 299

  Salk, Dr Jonas, 69

  Santa Lucia Mountains, 262

  Sapper, Alan, 147–8

  Scorsese, Martin, 146

  Scott, Robert Falcon, 120

  Seipei, Stompie, 212

  Selous, Frederick, 7, 182

  The Seventh Scroll (mini-series), 158

  The Seventh Scroll (Smith), 241–2

  Seychelles:

  and buried treasure, 274

  Cerf Island in, see main entry

  as JS’s getaway, 272

  Shackleton, Ernest, 120

  Shakespeare, William, 71, 180, 224, 281, 312

  Sharpeville, 96–7, 206, 208

  “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” (Hemingway), 62

  Shout at the Devil (Smith), 84, 86, 146, 159, 163

  and cinema, 144, 146, 151–2, 159

  Sinai Peninsular, 137

  Siqele, Gladys, 213–14

  Six Day War, 135, 137

  Slabbert, Jewell (second wife), see Smith, Jewell

  Smith, Adrienne (sister), 16, 17, 30, 161, 162

  Smith, Courtney James (grandfather):

  clasp knife of, 59

  described, 37

  elephant hunt described by, 7–8

  as fountain of stories, 37–9

  and hunting, 7, 38, 186–7

  Natal home of, 37

  rifle owned by, 6, 36–7, 190

  in Witwatersrand gold rush, 6

  in Zulu War, 6

  Smith, Elfreda (mother):

  Anglicanism of, 245

  death of, 245

  described, 34

  and Great Zimbabwe, 161–3, 231

  Herbert meets, 33

  and horses, 34

  Kloof move of, 68, 179

  library of, 34

  remains of, and those Herbert, 245–6

  resilience of, 288

  and school violence, 65

  and watercolor painting, 34

  and wonders of nature, 34

  WS provides home for, 179, 205

  and WS’s early reading, 21, 34, 35

  and WS’s introduction to literature, 245

  and WS’s school choice, 57–8

  Smith, Herbert (father):

  and aviation, 11

  and bad calls on stock market, 179

  and books, 32

  boxing by, 174–6

  business set up with WS by, 179

  death of, 180–1

  described, 31

  and discipline, fairness and justice, 178

  Elfreda meets, 33

  first fortune made by, 29–30

  at Great Zimbabwe, 160–3

  as hero to WS, 12, 18

  hunt preparation by, 13–14

  and hunting as way of life, 35, 37

  hunting licenses of, 188

  idleness disdained by, 125

  Kloof move of, 68, 179

  knockdowns encountered by, 25

  and a man’s role in society, 182

  and mines’ reopening, 31

  practical nature of, 12

  and rampaging lions, 14–19

  ranch purchased by, 31, 177

  ranch sold by, 179

  remains of, and those Elfreda, 245–6

  Salisbury move of, 22

  store chain established by, 31

  stories distrusted by, 21, 32

  Tiger Moth plane of, 13, 50, 132–3

  and ventilation piping, 177

  WS provides home for, 179, 205

  WS’s abiding moment with, 181

  WS’s admiration for, 11, 180

  WS’s book as epitaph for, 173

  and WS’s first child, 181

  and WS’s first lion kill, 171

  and WS’s first rifle (heirloom), 6, 36–7

  and WS’s first rifle (new), 172

  and WS’s first shot animal, 44

  on WS’s marriages, 205

  and WS’s school choice, 58

  Smith, Ian, 83, 201, 204

  Smith, Jewell (née Slabbert) (second wife), 205

  Smith, Niso (fourth wife), 245, 282–3, 290–1, 292–3

  and Ireland, 292–3

  and JS’s diving, 282

  and skiing, 290–1

  WS meets, 279

  Smith, Sandi, 264

  Smith (When the Lion Feeds), BBC serializes, 95

  Smith, Wilbur:

  and alcohol, 74–5

  becomes full-time writer, 81

  birth of, 29–30

  and black mamba, 43–4, 284

  as British South Africa Police reserve, 202

  and Cape buffalo, 52–4, 186

  cerebral malaria suffered by, 29

  children of, 22, 181

  cigarette smoking, 67

  debut novel of, see When the Lion Feeds

  disfigured neighbor of, 127–30, 131–2

  diving by, 267–72

  diving quit by, 282

  and dynamite experience, 177–9

  and Eagle film script, 156–7

  and early hunts, 12–19, 190 (see also Smith, Herbert: and rampaging lions)

  early reading by, 32–6, 59–61, 311

  early writing urges of, 21

  essay form prize for, 61 (see also Smith, Wilbur: schooldays of)

  father sets up business with, 179

  first advance payment sent to, 80

  first animal shot by, 6, 44

  first divorce of, 22

  first job of, 75–6

  first lions killed by, 171

  first new rifle owned by (new), 172

  first rifle owned by (heirloom), 6, 36–7

  first step into writing by, at school, 61

  and fishing-boat work, 109, 111–18

  flying by, 132–4, 139–41 (see also Smith, Herbert: Tiger Moth plane of)

  flying quit by, 141

  Ford car bought by, 73

  and gambling, 75

  and Gold film script, 147

  income of, 174

  and Ireland, 292–3

  Jewell marries, 205

  and lost jeep, 46–9

  and love for written word, 22–3

  marriage of, first, 76

  marriage of, second, 95, 205

  Niso marries, 281 (see also Smith, Niso)

  novels of, listed in series, iii (see also individual titles)

  only original film script by, 151

  parents given a home by, 179, 205

  pilot’s license acquired by, 132

  polio suffered by, 55, 69

  racism abhorred by, 222

  ‘Racist of the Year’ award offered to, 222

  Reader’s Digest prints novel of, 80, 95

  and rejection letters, 22, 23, 296

  rock climbing discovered by, 26

  Salisbury move of, 22

  school magazine begun by, 66r />
  schooldays of, 57–69 (see also Cordwalles boarding school; Michaelhouse school)

  screenplay commissioned from, 144–5

  sexual awakenings of, 68, 72

  sister of, see Smith, Adrienne

  and skiing, 255, 290–1

  Steven Lawrence pseudonym of, 25–6

  tax-assessor work of, 22, 24, 174, 308

  Tribune article of, 69

  writing debut of, see “On Flinders’ Face”

  on writing process, 306–14

  Somalia, 285–7

  The Sound of Thunder (Smith), 84, 118, 144, 201, 253

  launched in US, 253

  South Africa (see also Mandela, Nelson):

  bullying in boarding schools of, 69

  criminal violence in, 215

  general election 1994 in, 214

  glasnost’s effects on, 208–9

  and Gold filming, 147–8

  and ‘gravy train’, 220

  and Israeli Air Force, 134

  Mandela becomes president of, 209

  and Rugby World Cup, 218

  Sharpeville, 96–7, 206, 208

  TV service introduced in, 105

  WS books banned by, and appeals, see individual titles

  South African Rugby Board, 218

  A Sparrow Falls (Smith), banning of and appeal concerning, 104–8

  Spear of the Nation, 97

  Spies, Karen, 151

  Springboks, 218, 221

  Spud (van de Ruit), 64

  St Anne’s School, 66

  Stallone, Sylvester, 197

  Star, 96, 106, 222, 242

  Star of South Africa, 93

  Steinbeck, John, 26, 226, 252, 259, 262–4, 312

  Stewart, Andrew, 104

  Steyn, L. C., 100–1

  Steyner, Terry, 149

  Strydom, Barend, 213

  Summer Harvest (Swindell), 221

  The Sunbird (Smith), 144, 164–7, 231, 239, 265, 285

  Sunbird Hill, 167

  Sunday Times, 96, 289

  Sunday Tribune, 69

  Swindell, Madge, 221

  Table Mountain, 139, 167

  Tarantino, Quentin, 146

  Tass, 96

  Taylor, John, 275

  Taylor, Larry, 154–5

  Taylor, Rod, 145, 146

  Teba, 90

  Tel Aviv, 135–8

  Telegraph, 150

  The Tempest (Shakespeare), 281

  “tenderpreneurs?”, 220

  Terre’Blanche, Eugene, 209

  Thatcher, Margaret, 288–9

  Things Fall Apart (Achebe), 313

  Those in Peril (Smith), 286–90

  and bestseller lists, 289

  A Time to Die (Smith), 151, 188–9

  Todd, James Cameron, 63

  Top Gun, 133

  Tortilla Flat (Steinbeck), 263

  Tough Guys Don’t Dance (Mailer), 288

  The Train from Katanga (Smith), see The Dark of the Sun

  Trans Namib railway, 110

  Trask, Cal, 264

  Travels with Charley (Steinbeck), 264

  Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 214

  Turning Wheels (Cloete), 103

  Tutankhamen, 231–3, 234, 236

  Ulysses, 183

  uMkhonto we Sizwe, 97

  unilateral declaration of independence (UDI), 83, 201, 202, 204, 216 (see also under Zimbabwe)

  USA:

  WS’s love affair with, 253

  WS’s visits to, 253

  Valley of the Kings, 229, 236, 253

  van de Ruit, John, 64

  Van Zijl, Justice, 97, 98–100

  Verwoerd, Hendrik, 208

  Viking Press, 81

  Volume 2 (Duncan), 96

  Vorster, V. J., 224–5

  Wall Street Journal, 150

  Walpole, Mr., 175, 176

  Walsh, Battleship, 175–6, 178

  Walvis Bay, 110, 111, 115–17, 173

  The Wanderings of an Elephant Hunter (Bell), 191

  Warlock (Smith), 243

  Wenela, 90

  Western Deep Levels Gold Mine Company, 84, 85

  Whaling Company, 119

  whaling-trawler work, 119–23

  When the Lion Feeds (Smith), iv, 29, 55–6, 80–5, 92, 160, 172–3, 180, 188, 201, 211, 226, 233, 262, 269, 296, 312

  Appellate Division finding on, 100–1

  ban and appeals concerning, 95–102

  and censorship relaxation, 102, 104

  and cinema, 143

  contract for, 105

  French interest in, 299

  and grandfather’s name, 38, 55

  launched in US, 253

  legal but pyrrhic victory, 102

  money from, 81, 82–3

  publisher accepts, 56

  Reader’s Digest prints, 80–1, 95

  reviews of, 104

  and screen rights, 143

  success of, 67, 80, 95

  Wilbur & Niso Smith Foundation, iv

  Wild Justice (mini-series), 158

  William Heinemann, 56, 80–1, 296

  and Lion contract, 103

  South Africa banning, 95–6

  and Sparrow ban, 104

  Winant, Ursula, 24, 296–8

  Winsor, Kathleen, 60

  Witt, Elmo, 151

  Witwatersrand gold rush, 6, 38, 42, 55, 84–5, 137, 262

  Witwatersrand Native Labour Association, 90

  Wolraad Woltemade, 123

  World War I, 31, 103, 104, 298

  World War II, 63, 126–8, 145, 236, 278

  and WS’s disfigured neighbor, 127–30, 131–2

  World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), 193

  Wright, Orville, 11

  Wright, Wilbur, 11

  Wykham Collegiate, 66

  Xhosa, 206

  Yom Kippur, 137, 244

  York, Susannah, 149, 150–1

  Yosemite National Park, 260

  Zambezi Valley, 12

  Zambia, 29, 42, 59, 90, 219

  Zimbabwe African National Union, 201

  Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia):

  and Bush War, 189, 196–7, 200, 202, 203, 205

  death throes of, as Rhodesia, 199

  formation of, after Rhodesia, 201

  and Great Zimbabwe, 161–3

  and independence, 83, 179, 201–2

  WS books banned by, 100, 108, 205

  WS’s urge to write about, 199

  Zulu, 143

  Zulu War, 6, 55

  Zululand, 38

  Zuma, Jacob, 183

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  My thanks to Kevin Ritchie for extensive sessions of memory jogging and his deep research, Robert Dinsdale for his structural ideas, and Martin Fletcher for his editorial work.

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  Watch out for the brand new Courtney Series novel from the legendary Wilbur Smith

  COURTNEY’S WAR

  The much-anticipated sequel to the global bestseller WAR CRY

  Coming September 2018