John Jakes Dies: ‘North And South’, ‘The Bastard’ Author Was 90
14.03.2023 - 23:55
/ deadline.com
John 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. By 1975, all eight volumes were bestsellers.
The Bastard was adapted into a four-hour TV movie starring Andrew Stevens in 1978, airing as part of Operation Prime Time, a consortium of American independent television stations.
Even more popular was Jakes’ North And South trilogy set before, during and immediately after the Civil War. North And South, the first book in the series, was published in 1982, with Love And War arriving in ’84 and Heaven And Hell in ’87. All three were bestsellers.
The trilogy was adapted into ABC’s successful trio of miniseries, beginning with North and South in 1985, followed by the renamed North And South Book II in ’86 and Heaven and Hell: North And South Book III in ’94.
The first two miniseries starred Patrick Swayze and James Read as best friends who found themselves fighting on opposite sides during the war. The large cast of North And South also