Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes: The Official Biography

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Now, the book Terry sadly couldn't finish has been written by Rob Wilkins, his former assistant, friend and now head of the Pratchett literary estate. Drawing on his own extensive memories, along with those of the author's family, friends and colleagues, Rob unveils the full picture of Terry's life - from childhood to his astonishing writing career, and how he met and coped with what he called the 'Embuggerance' of Alzheimer's disease. That single gesture, it seemed to me, would send the clearest signal about the book that I was in a unique position to write, if I could manage it. Because, yes, of course I would want to write about Terry Pratchett the author, the public figure whom people knew. But I would also want, and even more urgently, to write about the Terry Pratchett who would be less familiar to people: the Terry Pratchett I saw every day, at his desk, without his hat on – Terry Pratchett the writer. Saurio interviews Terry Pratchett". laideafija.com.ar. 2002. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012 . Retrieved 19 November 2011. In 2012, the first volume of Pratchett's collected short fiction was published under the title A Blink of the Screen. In 2014, a similar collection was published of Pratchett's non-fiction, entitled A Slip of the Keyboard. [40] Out of the shadows: Four videos in which Terry Pratchett reveals what it was like to be diagnosed with posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), a rare variant of Alzheimer's disease.

Past Events". Dwcon.org. n.d. Archived from the original on 14 December 2007 . Retrieved 17 February 2008. Characters, place names, and titles in Pratchett's books often contain puns, allusions and cultural references. [191] [192] Some characters are parodies of well-known characters: for example, Pratchett's character Cohen the Barbarian, also called Ghengiz Cohen, is a parody of Conan the Barbarian and Genghis Khan, and his character Leonard of Quirm is a parody of Leonardo da Vinci. [193] [194]

It’s a tragedy that Alzheimer’s – the “embuggerance” – hit Pratchett when he was writing his very best work. Wilkins was by his side for the most difficult moments. I shed a tear at the final chapters, in which we see Pratchett use his irritability and anger – that lifelong chip on the shoulder, which not even his knighthood could remove – to fuel his tireless campaigning for Alzheimer’s research. “I intend to scream and harangue while there is time,” he said. “I’m going to make Alzheimer’s regret catching me.” Why is he so underestimated? The world he created was brilliantly absurd – elephants all the way down – and strangely convincing. I remember arriving by car in Palermo, in Sicily, one day and one of my children saying “we’re on holiday in Ankh-Morpork”. Unlike any other fantasy world, Discworld constantly responds to our own. You’ve only got to look at the titles of the books ( Reaper Man, The Fifth Elephant) – parodies of films. Discworld is the laboratory where Pratchett carried out thought experiments on everything from social class and transport policy to the nature of time and death. Discworld, like Middle-earth, is immersive in a way that tempts people to dress up, draw street maps, tabulate its rules and pretend they live there Pratchett won the British Book Awards' "Fantasy and Science Fiction Author of the Year" category in 1994, [151] the British Science Fiction Award in 1989 for his novel Pyramids, [152] and a Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 2008 for Making Money. [153] He won the 2001 Carnegie Medal from the British librarians, which recognised The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents as the year's best children's book published in the UK. [154] [155] Night Watch won the 2003 Prometheus Award for best libertarian novel. [156] Four of the five Discworld novels that centre on the trainee witch Tiffany Aching won the annual Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2016. [157] In 2005, Going Postal was shortlisted for the Hugo Award for Best Novel; however, Pratchett recused himself, stating that stress over the award would mar his enjoyment of Worldcon. [158] [159] In the same year, A Hat Full of Sky won a Mythopoeic Award. [160] In 2008, Making Money was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel. [161] I Shall Wear Midnight [162] won the 2010 Andre Norton Award, presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) as a part of the Nebula Award ceremony. In September 2012, Pratchett told an interviewer: "I have to tell you that I thought I'd be a lot worse than this by now, and so did my specialist." In the same interview, he said that the cognitive part of his mind was "untouched" and his symptoms were physical (normal for PCA). [114] However, in July 2014, he cancelled his appearance at the biennial International Discworld Convention, citing his condition and "other age-related ailments". [115] Death and legacy [ edit ] Smith, Kevin P. (20 September 2002). "Terry Pratchett". The Literary Encyclopedia . Retrieved 1 July 2009.

Quotes of the week ... They said what?". The Observer. London. 22 February 2009 . Retrieved 15 October 2009. Interview with Terry Pratchett". Bill Peschel. 14 September 2006. Archived from the original on 27 May 2013 . Retrieved 17 February 2008.Sadly, I’m going to have to wait until my parents come to my adopted country at the end of the year before I can read it. People: Sienna Miller, Terry Pratchett, Javier Bardem". Times Online. London: Times Newspapers. 27 February 2008 . Retrieved 4 March 2008. Examine your subject through a microscope, with forensic accuracy, study their DNA, but don't just rely on your own memories; listen to everyone who offers advice or an anecdote, however random, but learn to filter and compartmentalise as necessary. What was your favorite book when you were a child?

Ogg, Lynsey (31 May 2013). "The Terry Pratchett First Novel Award Winner Announced!". terrypratchettbooks.com. Archived from the original on 19 July 2014 . Retrieved 19 July 2014. In 1995, a fossil sea-turtle from the Eocene epoch of New Zealand was named Psephophorus terrypratchetti in his honour by the palaeontologist Richard Köhler. [81] Shaffi, Sarah (27 February 2023). "Rediscovered Terry Pratchett stories to be published". The Guardian . Retrieved 5 May 2023. Look after Lyn, please. Have those fine pieces of jewellery cast to my design and give them with my love. Choose a gift every Christmas and birthday. Send flowers. Have a big dinner each year, more if necessary or if a celebration is required, and raise a brandy to my memory and to happy days. Bookclub: BBC's James Naughtie and a group of readers talk to Terry Pratchett about his book Mort ( audio)

Paul Kidby

Ogg, Lynsey (21 December 2011). "The Terry Pratchett First Novel Award". terrypratchettbooks.com. Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Interview de Terry Pratchett (en Anglais) (Interview with Terry Pratchett (in English))". Nathalie Ruas, ActuSF. June 2002. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007 . Retrieved 19 June 2007. a b Weale, Sally (8 November 2002). "Life on planet Pratchett". Guardian Unlimited. London . Retrieved 6 June 2007. Fictional Footnotes and Indexes – Fiction with Footnotes". William Denton, Miskatonic.org. 22 March 2007 . Retrieved 7 June 2007. Look after the business and it will look after you. For all you have done, for all of the little things and all of the much bigger things and for the burying of the bodies … I thank you.