Wilbur Smith died

Wilbur Smith

, one of the world's famous authors,

, South Africa.

His website gave the news: `` He left unexpectedly, after a morning of reading and writing, with his wife Niso at his side ''. 

`` Global bestselling author Wilbur Smith died unexpectedly this afternoon at his Cape Town home after a morning of reading and writing with his wife Niso by his side, '' explains his official website. Undisputed and inimitable master of adventure writing, Wilbur Smith's novels have captivated readers for over half a century, selling over 140 million copies worldwide in more than thirty languages. His best-selling series Courtney, the longest in publishing history, follows the adventures of the Courtney family around the world, spanning generations and three centuries, through critical periods from the dawn of colonial Africa to the American Civil War and the apartheid era in South Africa.In the 49 novels that Smith has published to date, he has transported his readers to gold mines in South Africa, piracy in the Indian Ocean, buried treasures on tropical islands, conflict in Arabia and Khartoum, ancient Egypt, Germany and Paris of the World War II, India, the Americas and the Antarctic, meeting ruthless diamond and slave traders and big game hunters in the jungles and scrubs of the African wilds. However, it was with Taita, the hero of his acclaimed Egyptian series, that Wilbur most identified himself, and River God remains one of his most beloved novels to date, '' reads the note announcing his death. Wilbur Smith's very first novel When the Lion Feeds, published in 1964,was an instant bestseller, and each of his subsequent novels appeared on the bestseller charts, often at number one, giving the author the opportunity to travel far and wide in search of inspiration and adventure. He was an advocate of deep research, meticulously corroborating every fact and adhering to the advice of his first publisher, William Heinemann's Charles Pick, to "write about the things you know well." Smith, an experienced bushman, survivor and big game hunter, was licensed as a pilot, was an experienced scuba diver, a conservator, ran his own game reserve and owned a tropical island in the Seychelles. He also used his vast experiences outside theAfrica in places like Switzerland and rural Russia to help create its imaginary worlds. His life, detailed in his autobiography, On Leopard Rock, was as moving and full of incidents as all of his novels. Named after one of Wilbur Wright's pioneer brothers in aerial flight, Smith was born on January 9, 1933 in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, Central Africa. His father, Herbert Smith, was a sheet metal worker and a strict discipline and it was his more art-inclined mother, Elfreda, who encouraged young Wilbur to read the likes of CS Forester, Rider Haggard and John Buchan. '' .Named after one of Wilbur Wright's pioneer brothers in aerial flight, Smith was born on January 9, 1933 in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, Central Africa. His father, Herbert Smith, was a sheet metal worker and a strict discipline and it was his more art-inclined mother, Elfreda, who encouraged young Wilbur to read the likes of CS Forester, Rider Haggard and John Buchan. '' .Named after one of Wilbur Wright's pioneer brothers in aerial flight, Smith was born on January 9, 1933 in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, Central Africa. His father, Herbert Smith, was a sheet metal worker and a strict discipline and it was his more art-inclined mother, Elfreda, who encouraged young Wilbur to read the likes of CS Forester, Rider Haggard and John Buchan. '' .