The Age reports that Bryce Courtenay died yesterday at his home in Canberra. Courtenay was probably best known for his first novel The Power of One, a very powerful story dealing with apartheid in South Africa. It was made into a movie, but, while the movie also made a powerful statement, it differed significantly from the book.

We claimed the author as Australian, although he was born and spent his early years in South Africa, and didn’t settle here until the 1950s. He took up writing after retiring from a career in advertising and he was 56 when The Power of One was published in 1989.

Courtenay announced in September that he had been diagnosed with terminal gastric cancer.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryce_Courtenay accessed 22 Nov 2012.