I don’t feel quite the same way about the recent passing of Jeffrey Archer as I did – say – with the passing of Frederick Forsyth a couple of years back. For me Forsyth was up there with the greats, like Stephen King or the late Wilbur Smith. Day of the Jackal was part of my adolescence. The difference with Forsyth and Smith is that they wrote from their own life experience. By contrast, Archer came across to me as a former Conservative politician turned writer. Yes he was good at his trade. I have read a couple of his books. Though I can’t remember any of the plots. Other than that I recall one of them being based in the Vichy France. Have I got that right? But Archer was famous in other ways. He was the first celebrity defendant to be convicted by a jury. I recall him standing against Red Ken in one of the London mayoral elections. But I didn’t vote for him. All I remember about his campaign was that he wanted to reduce some bus services. What a choice that was?
