Terry Pratchett Biography

Fast Facts

• Truckers, his first installment in the Bromeliad Trilogy published in 1989, was the first children's book ever to appear on adult fiction bestseller lists in the U․K
• Was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1998 for his services to literature and later received a knighthood in 2009
• Diagnosed in 2007 with posterior cortical atrophy, a form of Alzheimer's, he spent the remainder of his life campaigning for better understanding and treatment of dementia, becoming a voice for the more than 700,000 people in the U․K․ affected by it
• His first published work, at the age of 15, was a short story titled "The Hades Business," the proceeds from which he used to buy his first typewriter
• Left school to work as a journalist for the Bucks Free Press in 1965, getting the opportunity three years later to interview publisher Peter Bander van Duren, whom he convinced to publish his first novel, 1971's "The Carpet People․"
• Quote: "Fantasy is one of the skills that makes us human․"
• Quote: "It's not worth doing something unless someone, somewhere, would much rather you weren't doing it․"
• After releasing "The Dark Side of the Sun" in 1976 and "Strata" in 1981, he published his first "Discworld" book, "The Colour of Magic," in 1983
• Comic fantasy author whose 40-volume "Discworld" series made him the second most-read writer in the U․K․ and who co-wrote the popular novel "Good Omens" with Neil Gaiman
• Was interested in radio from an early age and was a member of the Chiltern Amateur Radio Club with his father during the early 1960s
• His novels have been adapted several times over in various formats, including video games, TV mini-series and radio serials