John Jakes Dies: ‘North And South’, ‘The Bastard’ Author Was 90
deadline.comJohn Jakes, the bestselling author of historical novels whose books The Bastard and North And South were adapted into highly rated TV movies and miniseries in the 1970s and ’80s, died Saturday at a hospice facility in Sarasota, Florida.
He was 90. His death was announced by his lawyer and literary agent Frank R. Curtis. Born on March 31, 1932, in Chicago, Jakes published his first short story at 18, earning $25, and would go on to author more than 80 books in his lifetime that sold more than 120 million copies worldwide.
His breakthrough came in 1974 with the publication of The Bastard, the first in what would become an eight-volume series known as The Kent Family Chronicles.
Roughly coinciding with America’s Bicentennial, the series mixed historical events and characters with fiction, chronicling the decade leading to the American Revolution.
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