Henry "Harry" Patterson (27 July 1929 – 9 April 2022), commonly known by his
pen name Jack Higgins, was a British author. He was a best-selling author of popular
thrillers
Thriller is a genre of fiction, having numerous, often overlapping subgenres. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. Suc ...
and
espionage
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...
novels. His novel ''
The Eagle Has Landed'' (1975) sold more than 50 million copies
and was adapted into a successful 1976 movie
of the same title.
Some of his other notable books are ''
A Prayer for the Dying
''A Prayer for the Dying'' is a 1987 thriller film about a former IRA member trying to escape his past. The film was directed by Mike Hodges, and stars Mickey Rourke, Liam Neeson, Bob Hoskins, and Alan Bates. The film is based on the 1973 Jack ...
'' (1973), ''
The Eagle Has Flown
''The Eagle Has Flown'' is a book by Jack Higgins, first published in 1991. It is a sequel to '' The Eagle Has Landed''.
Plot summary
Following the events in the previous novel, it is revealed that Kurt Steiner did not die after attempting to ki ...
'' (1991), ''
Thunder Point
Thunder Point is a novel in the Sean Dillon series by Jack Higgins, published in 1993.
Plot summary
Amateur diver Henry Baker goes diving in the Caribbean, when he finds the wreck of a German U-boat. Inside he finds a briefcase which he take ...
'' (1993), ''
Angel of Death'' (1995), ''
Flight of Eagles'' (1998), and ''
Day of Reckoning'' (2000).
His 85 novels in total have sold more than 250 million copies and have been translated into 55 languages.
Jack Higgins
/ref>
Early life
Jack Higgins was born Henry Patterson on 27 July 1929 in Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
to an English father and a Northern Irish mother. When his father abandoned them soon afterward, his mother returned with him to her home town of Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, to live with her mother and her grandfather on the Shankill Road
The Shankill Road () is one of the main roads leading through West Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It runs through the working-class, predominantly loyalist, area known as the Shankill.
The road stretches westwards for about from central Belfast ...
. Raised amid the religious and political violence of Belfast, Patterson learned to read at the age of three, when he was tasked with reading ''The Christian Herald'' to his bed-ridden grandfather. At night, he would crouch beneath a window and read by the light of street lamps.
When his mother remarried, the family relocated to Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
, England, where Patterson won a scholarship to attend Roundhay Grammar School for Boys. He proved to be an indifferent student and left school with few formal qualifications. In 1947 he began two years of national service
National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939.
The ...
, at first with the East Yorkshire Regiment
The East Yorkshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1685 as Sir William Clifton's Regiment of Foot and later renamed the 15th Regiment of Foot. It saw service for three centuries, before eventually being ...
, and later as a non-commissioned officer of the Royal Horse Guards Regiment of the Household Cavalry
The Household Cavalry (HCav) is made up of the two most senior regiments of the British Army, the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons). These regiments are divided between the Household Cavalry Regiment sta ...
doing security work on the East German
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
border.
After leaving the army, he returned to education at Beckett Park teacher training college in Leeds and studied for a BSc sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...
degree as a London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...
external student, taking his finals in Bradford in 1961. By day, he was working as a driver and labourer at night. He chose the university for its "history of nonconformism". He received his third-class degree after three years of study. After getting a teaching qualification, he started teaching at Allerton Grange Comprehensive School. He accepted a job lecturing in social psychology and criminology. He taught liberal studies at Leeds Polytechnic and education at James Graham College, which became part of Leeds Polytechnic in 1976.
Career
In 1959, Higgins began writing novels. One of his aliases was James Graham. The growing success of his early work allowed him to take time off from his teaching, which he quit eventually to become a full-time novelist.
Patterson's early novels, using his own name (as "Harry Patterson") as well as the pseudonyms James Graham, Martin Fallon, and Hugh Marlowe, are thrillers that typically feature hardened, cynical heroes, ruthless villains, and dangerous locales. Patterson published thirty-five such novels (sometimes three or four a year) between 1959 and 1974, learning his craft. ''East Of Desolation'' (1968), ''A Game For Heroes'' (1970) and ''The Savage Day'' (1972) are notable among his early work for their vividly described settings (Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...
, the Channel Islands, and Belfast, respectively) and offbeat plots.
Patterson began using the pseudonym Jack Higgins during the late 1960s; his first minor bestsellers were published during the early 1970s, two contemporary thrillers ''The Savage Day'' and ''A Prayer for the Dying
''A Prayer for the Dying'' is a 1987 thriller film about a former IRA member trying to escape his past. The film was directed by Mike Hodges, and stars Mickey Rourke, Liam Neeson, Bob Hoskins, and Alan Bates. The film is based on the 1973 Jack ...
'', but it was the publication of his thirty-sixth book, '' The Eagle Has Landed,'' in 1975, that made Higgins' reputation. Its plot concerns a German commando unit sent into England to kidnap Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
. The main character is arguably an Irish gunman and poet, Liam Devlin
Liam Devlin is a protagonist and recurring character in the novels of Jack Higgins. "Liam Devlin" is a pseudonym and his real name is never revealed.
Fictional biography Early life
Liam Devlin is described as being born in County Down, Northern ...
. Higgins followed ''The Eagle Has Landed'' with a series of thrillers, including several (''Touch The Devil'', ''Confessional'', ''The Eagle Has Flown
''The Eagle Has Flown'' is a book by Jack Higgins, first published in 1991. It is a sequel to '' The Eagle Has Landed''.
Plot summary
Following the events in the previous novel, it is revealed that Kurt Steiner did not die after attempting to ki ...
'') featuring the character Devlin.
The third phase of Patterson's career began with the publication of ''Eye of the Storm'' in 1992, a fictionalised retelling of an unsuccessful mortar attack on Prime Minister John Major, by a ruthless young Irish gunman-philosopher named Sean Dillon, hired by an Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
i millionaire. Cast as the main character for the next series of novels (22 out of 43 published between 1992 and 2017), it is apparent that Dillon is in many ways an amalgamation of Patterson's previous heroes—Chavasse with his flair for languages, Nick Miller's familiarity with martial arts and jazz keyboard skills, Simon Vaughan's Irish roots, facility with firearms and the cynicism that comes with assuming the responsibility of administering a justice unavailable through a civilised legal system.
Personal life and death
Higgins met Amy Hewitt while both were studying at the London School of Economics. They were married in 1958, soon after he received a £75 advance for his first novel—"the biggest wedding present we could have had." They had four children: Sarah (born 1960), Ruth (born 1962), Sean (born 1965), and Hannah (born 1974). Their daughter Sarah Patterson authored the novel ''The Distant Summer'' (1976). The marriage ended in 1984. In 1985, he married his second wife, Denise Palmer.
Higgins died at his home in Jersey
Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...
, on 9 April 2022, at the age of 92.
Bibliography
Filmography
References
External links
*
*
The Unofficial Jack Higgins Homepage
Jack Higgins Blog
Author's page at HarperCollins Publishers
Guide to Jack Higgins thrillers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Jack
1929 births
2022 deaths
20th-century English male writers
20th-century English novelists
20th-century pseudonymous writers
21st-century English male writers
21st-century English novelists
21st-century pseudonymous writers
Academics of Leeds Beckett University
Alumni of the London School of Economics
Anglicans from Northern Ireland
Blues and Royals soldiers
English male novelists
English people of Northern Ireland descent
English thriller writers
Jersey writers
Writers from Newcastle upon Tyne
People from Northern Ireland of English descent
Writers from Belfast
Writers from Leeds