Jack of Diamonds (104 page)
Due to some tedious health matters,
Jack of Diamonds
has taken nearly two years to write – an inordinate amount of time for me to complete a book. So it is with a feeling of great relief that I have finally completed it. There hasn’t been a lot of time this year to smell the roses, but I saw the first of my spring daffodil shoots break through to announce the end of winter and the coming of summer when you will, I hope, be enjoying
Jack of Diamonds
.
I wish to express my profound gratitude to my readers in Australia and around the world who kindly wait for each of my books. I thank you for your loyalty, your letters, emails and comments on Facebook; these are what continue to encourage me to keep writing. Furthermore, I am constantly amazed by the number of people who approach me in the street and are kind enough to say they enjoy my books. For this generous and personal acknowledgement, I am truly grateful.
Bruce Gee, my long-time researcher, deserves special mention for his agile brain, and lateral approach to problem solving, and for having the honesty and integrity to always speak his mind without fear or favour. I thank you for your invaluable contribution.
Nan McNab, my regular editor, is my tower of strength. It is her opinions I have learned to trust implicitly, even if her comments often result in my having to do many hours of rewriting. Alas, she is seldom wrong and my final draft is always enhanced by following Nan’s wise and experienced counsel.
This book was also completed with the help of a wide range of people whose advice and knowledge have been invaluable to me: John Adamson; Patricia Barton; Alida Haskins; Philippe Pee from Guest Apartment Services (Paris); Lorraine Woon; Sam Schischka; Michael Frankel; and, finally, Shanine Mony (South Africa).
Getting old ain’t a whole heap of fun, and these past few years I have needed a bit of fine tuning, shall we say, to remain at my computer. I feel enormously privileged to have had the brilliant care of some very special people: Dr Koroush Haghighi, who literally saved my life; Professor Michael Solomon; Dr Peter Grant; Dr Anthony Freeman; Professor Warwick Selby; Dr Irwin Light; and Professor John Rasko and his wife, Associate Professor Simone Strasser; and Associate Professor Eva Segelov. Under their world-class care, ‘Lucky’ Courtenay continues to make it!
My publisher, Penguin Books, offers me an extraordinary team of dedicated, professional people, whose support I simply could not do without. As you would appreciate, at the present time they are working in the most challenging environment the world of publishing has seen, and while the e-book is here to stay, it has brought drastic changes to the book industry. It is with this in mind that I want to pay tribute to Bob Sessions (Uncle Bob) who is always my first port of call to mull over a problem and who has never once failed me; his dynamic CEO, Gabrielle Coyne; the magical Julie Gibbs; publicity gurus Anyez Lindop and Sally Bateman; Rachel Scully and Anne Rogan in editorial; Carmen de la Rue and Nicole Brown in production; Adam Laszczuk and Alex Ross in design; proofreaders Sarina Rowell and Saskia Adams; and the team of dedicated people who include the army of typesetters, printers, designers, delivery staff, warehouse teams, booksellers and brave shopkeepers. You are my publishing family, and even in the depths of night as I am struggling to complete a chapter I never feel alone.
Then there are the dear friends and family members who occupy the lining of my soul and whose love, friendship and sense of humour constantly sustain me. My sons and their wives, Brett and Ann Courtenay, and Adam and Gina Courtenay; grandsons Ben, Jake and Marcus; Nima Price and his partner, Kathrine Petersen; Kathleen Brownlie; Margaret Gee and Brent Waters; Shanine Mony and my extended family in South Africa have given me enduring love and support.
My patient and long-term friends who regularly keep in touch even when I don’t spend nearly as much time with them as I would like: Robbee Minicola, Irwin and Erica Light, Greg and Lorraine Woon, Peter and Amanda Keeble, Owen Denmeade, Roger and Sandi Rigby, Alex and Brenda Hamill, Anthony and Kerry Freeman, Tony and Cheryl Crosby, Anie Williams, and Alex Van Heeren. I also feel immense gratitude for the love and friendship extended to us by Duncan Thomas, Simon Balderstone AM, David and Carole Baird, Robert Swan OBE (founder of 2041.com), Barney Swan, John Atkin, Karen Thomas, John Adamson and Connie Wang, Marg Hamilton, Patrick Benhamou, Leonard Yong, Megan Grace, Stacey Truscott, Desiree Addinsall, Natalie Bowman, Kamahl, Iain Finlay, Trish Clark, Christine McCabe and Liz Courtenay. Michael Dean and Denis Bertollo also deserve a special note of thanks.
I dare not forget to mention our beloved pets: Tim, always at my feet as I write, and the four cats, Cardamon, Muschka, Ophelia and Pirate, hard at sleep on my desk. Then Leo, the dog next door, barking around 4 p.m. to remind us it’s time to take him along with Tim for their afternoon walk and sniff-a-thon.
Finally, but most importantly, I wish to thank my beloved wife, Christine, who is my soulmate and the woman I depend on each and every day, and whose love and support are impossible to put into words. Christine has a distinguished background as a pioneer in the adventure-travel industry, and continues to have a passion for travel that is undiminished, be it in the wilds of the high Arctic, or wandering the streets of Paris, her favourite city.
Christine’s imagination, intelligence, capacity for hard work, passion for life and untold kindness to me, our family and friends are an enduring inspiration. I am quite the luckiest man alive to be able to call her my wife.
Christine and I also feel immense gratitude for the fortunate life we continue to lead. We feel it is imperative that we continue to give back to organisations that, with courage and integrity, make a real difference to the lives of others.
Please take a look at their websites and consider joining us in supporting them: The Australian Himalayan Foundation (of which Christine was a founding director); The Thin Green Line Foundation, founded by Sean Willmore; Cure the Future Cell and Gene Trust, founded by Professor John Rasko AO; and Save the Rhino Foundation, begun by Nicholas Duncan. We salute you all and pledge our ongoing support.
Enjoy
Jack of Diamonds,
and my warmest wishes to you all.
Bryce Courtenay
25th of June 2012
VIKING
Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published by Penguin Group (Australia), 2012
Text copyright © Bryce Courtenay 2012
The moral right of the author has been asserted
‘Love Me Or Leave Me’ by Walter Donaldson & Gus Kahn © 1928,
US Copyright Renewed, All Rights Reserved, Donaldson Publishing Co. & Gilbert Keyes Music Co.
© 1928 Donaldson Music Co., Estate of Gus Khan.
Used by permission of EMI Music Publishing Australia Pty Limited.
International copyright secured. All rights reserved.
The verse that opens the Epilogue is an extract from
Through the Looking Glass
by Lewis Carroll.
Every effort has been made to locate all copyright holders, and the publisher welcomes hearing from anyone in this regard.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Cover design by Adam Laszczuk © Penguin Group (Australia)
Cover photography: Sunset Stock Connection Blue/Alamy; keyboard: Alama Images Inc./Alamy; playing card: istock.
ISBN: 978-0-85796-030-6
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