1 personal life , privacy
1.1 childhood, career , marriages
1.2 sailing experience
1.3 life after second world war
1.4 media exposure , controversy in final years
personal life , privacy
childhood, career , marriages
o brian born richard patrick russ, in chalfont st. peter, buckinghamshire, charles russ, english physician of german descent, , jessie russ (née goddard), english woman of irish descent. eighth of 9 children, o brian lost mother @ age of four, , biographers describe isolated childhood, limited poverty, sporadic schooling , long intervals @ home father , stepmother zoe center in lewes, east sussex. literary career began in childhood publishing of earliest works, including several short stories, book hussein, entertainment , , short story collection beasts royal; latter 2 brought him considerable critical praise considering youth. published first novel @ age 15, caesar: life story of panda leopard, father.
in 1934, underwent brief period of pilot training royal air force, not successful, , left raf. prior that, application royal navy had been rejected on health grounds. in 1935, living in london, married first wife, elizabeth jones, in 1936. had 2 children. second daughter suffered spina bifida; died in 1942, aged three, in country village in sussex. when child died, o brian had returned london, worked throughout war.
the details of work during second world war murky. worked ambulance driver, , stated worked in intelligence. dean king has claimed o brian actively involved in intelligence work , perhaps special operations overseas during war. indeed, despite usual extreme reticence past, o brian wrote in essay, black, choleric , married? , included in book patrick o brian: critical appreciations , bibliography (1994) that: time after blitz had died away joined 1 of intelligence organisations flourished during war, perpetually changing initials , competing 1 another. our work had france, , more shall not say, since disclosing methods , stratagems have deceived enemy once , may deceive him again seems me foolish. after war retired wales (i because wife , had driven ambulances , served in intelligence together) lived while in high welsh-speaking valley... confirms in first person intelligence connection, introducing wife mary wicksteed tolstoy co-worker , fellow intelligence operative. nikolai tolstoy, stepson through o brian s marriage mary tolstoy, disputes account, confirming o brian worked volunteer ambulance driver during blitz. doing work, met mary, separated wife of russian-born nobleman , lawyer count dimitri tolstoy. lived through latter part of war and, after both divorced previous spouses, married in july 1945. following month changed name deed poll patrick o brian.
sailing experience
as background later sea-going novels, o brian did claim have had limited experience on square-rigged sailing vessel, described within previously-quoted 1994 essay:
the disease racked bosom every , did not affect strength , when left me in peace (for there long remissions) sea-air , sea-voyages recommended. uncle had two-ton sloop , several friends had boats, fine, better particular friend edward, shared tutor me, had cousin possessed ocean-going yacht, converted square-rigged merchantman, used crew undergraduates , fair-sized boys, real seamen, , sail far off atlantic. young wonderfully resilient, , although never became of topman, after while hand, reef , steer without disgrace, allowed more ambitious sailoring later on.
however, in 1995, venture capitalist thomas perkins offered o brian two-week cruise aboard sailing yacht, 154 ft ketch. in article experience written after o brian s death, perkins commented ... knowledge of practical aspects of sailing seemed, amazingly, nil. , ...he seemed have no feeling wind , course, , had intervene prevent full standing gybe. began suspect autobiographical references months @ sea youth fanciful. .
life after second world war
between 1946 , 1949 o brians lived in cwm croesor, remote valley in north wales, rented cottage clough williams-ellis. o brian pursued interest in natural history; fished, went birdwatching, , followed local hunt. during time lived on mary o brian s small income , limited earnings o brian s writings.
in 1949 o brian , mary moved collioure, catalan town in southern france. , mary remained in collioure until death in 1998. mary s love , support critical o brian throughout career. worked him in british library in 1940s collected source material anthology book of voyages, became first book bear new name — book among favourites, because of close collaboration. death of wife in march 1998 tremendous blow o brian. in last 2 years of life, particularly once details of life revealed world, lonely, tortured, , @ last possibly paranoid figure.
he continued work on naval novels until death in 2000. spent winter of 1998–1999 @ trinity college, dublin , died there on 2 january 2000.
media exposure , controversy in final years
o brian protected privacy fiercely , reluctant reveal details private life or past, preferring include no biographical details on book jackets , supplying minimum of personal information when pressed so. many years reviewers , journalists presumed irish, , took no steps correct impression. 1 interviewer described man in late seventies compact, austere gentleman. ... pale, watchful eyes clear , alert. polite, formal , erudite in conversation, erudition can intimidating. horowitz learned worked o brian, erudition did not go unnoticed, while remained friends. richard ollard, naval historian, calls particular habit, blowing people out of game. ollard, edited aubrey/maturin novels, urged o brian tone down obscure allusions, though books remain crammed latin tags, antiquated medical terminology , endless stream of marvellous sounding impenetrable naval jargon. many have struggled themselves, ollard said of friend, thought others should struggle, too. 1 longtime acquaintance put more bluntly: patrick can bit of snob, socially , intellectually.
in 1998 bbc documentary followed exposé in daily telegraph made public facts of ancestry, original name , first marriage, provoking considerable critical media comment. in biography of o brian, nikolai tolstoy claims give more accurate , balanced account of late stepfather s character, actions , motives, particularly in respect of first marriage , family.
lanchester, in reviewing tolstoy s book, says last few years have been disheartening patrick o brian s many fans. not find arguments altogether persuasive, , access documents dean king never saw, tolstoy gives portrait of man cold, bullying, isolated, snobbish , super-sensitive. lanchester closes saying let s agree, o brianists, read novels , forget else. veale, in reviewing king s book, says judicious , well-grounded [king s] speculation, fails crack subject s protective shell. in end, aubrey , maturin have thrive on own -- how willfully enigmatic o brian intended it.
as if anticipating 21st century debates , disappointments once o brian s past exposed, horowitz interviewed o brian @ home in france in 1994: until recently, refused interviews. authors know least about, says, ones in purest form, homer. in truelove, stephen warns would-be interviewers question , answer not civilized form of conversation. o brian deflects direct inquiries private life, , when asked why moved south of france after world war ii, stops , fixes interrogator cold stare. seems getting rather close personal question, says softly, walking on.
at death, many obituaries published, evaluating work, particularly in aubrey-maturin series, , too-recent revelations of biography prior marriage mary wicksteed tolstoy. playwright david mamet wrote appreciation. american publisher, w. w. norton, wrote appreciation, mentioning story o brian, how pleased 3 times came us, in 1993, 1995 , in november 1999 weeks before death, , noting sales in alone of on 3 million copies.
o brian died on 2 january 2000 @ trinity college in dublin had been living , working on next book. body returned collioure, buried next wife.
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