'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFQABAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABQb/2gAIAQEAAAAAeif/xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA/9oACAECEAAAAH//xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA/9oACAEDEAAAAH//xAAhEAABAwMEAwAAAAAAAAAAAAACAQMFBBESAAYTISOR0f/aAAgBAQABPwANwQ89AR0czSVS0bmY+dBy6DIi9qmndhPcp8csWF1tdgPmv//EABQRAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD/2gAIAQIBAT8Af//EABQRAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD/2gAIAQMBAT8Af//Z'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Jack Higgins recently passed away at the age of 92. The author was mostly known for The Eagle Has Landed and other bestselling thrillers and espionage novels.
Publisher HarperCollins mentioned that Higgins died at his home on the English Channel island of Jersey surrounded by his family. Charlie Redmayne, chief executive the company, said that Jack’s death marked the end of an era. He said:
“I’ve been a fan of Jack Higgins for longer than I can remember. He was a classic thriller writer: instinctive, tough and relentless. The Eagle Has Landed and his other Liam Devlin books, his later Sean Dillon series, and so many others were and remain absolutely unputdownable.”
Jack Higgins’ net worth explored
Born on July 27, 1929, as Henry Patterson, Jack was mostly known as the best-selling author of popular thrillers and espionage novels. His novel The Eagle Has Landed sold more than 50 million copies and was also adapted into a successful movie.
According to TheRichest, Higgins’ net worth was estimated to be around $86 million. Although detailed information on his assets is not available, he earned a lot from his career as an author.
Jack Higgins’ father was English and his mother was Northern Irish. His father abandoned them, and his mother returned with him to her hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland, to live with her mother and grandfather on Shankill Road.
His mother remarried, and the family shifted to Leeds, where he got a scholarship to attend Roundhay Grammar School for Boys.
Jack began two years of national service in 1947. He first served with the East Yorkshire Regiment and then as a non-commissioned officer of the Royal Horse Guards Regiment of the Household Cavalry, doing security work on the East German border.
He left the army and returned to education at Beckett Park Teacher Training College in Leeds and studied as a London School of Economics external student for a B.Sc sociology degree. He worked as a driver and laborer at night and received his third-class degree after three years of study.
He then began teaching at Allerton Grange Comprehensive School and accepted a lecturing job in social psychology and criminology. He then taught liberal studies at Leeds Polytechnic and education at James Graham College.
The Newcastle native started writing novels in 1959. His initial novels were thrillers that featured hardened, cynical heroes, ruthless villains, and dangerous locales. He published 35 novels between 1959 and 1974, and his most popular novels include East of Desolation, A Game For Heroes, and The Savage Day.
Higgins’ first minor bestsellers were contemporary thrillers, The Savage Day and A Prayer for the Dying, published in early 1970s. He gained recognition for his 36th book, The Eagle Has Landed, in 1975. The plot focused on a German commando unit sent to England to kidnap Winston Churchill.
The third phase of his successful career began in 1992 after the publication of Eye of the Storm. It was a fictional retelling of an unsuccessful mortar attack on Prime Minister John Major by the ruthless young Irish gunman-philosopher Sean Dillon, hired by an Iraqi millionaire.
Jack is survived by his wife Denise and four children from his previous marriage to Amy Hewitt – Sarah, Ruth, Sean, and Hannah.
