David Craig Owen Thomas (24 November 1942 – 4 April 2011) was a Welsh author of thrillers, most notably the

Mitchell Gant Mitchell Gant is a fictional character in a series of books written by Craig Thomas. His first (and best known thanks to a successful film adaptation) appearance occurs in the 1977 novel ''Firefox'' as a US Air Force major that steals a Russian ...

and Kenneth Aubrey series of novels.

Background

Thomas was the son of the '' Western Mail'' rugby union writer JBG Thomas. He was educated at Cardiff High School. He graduated from University College, Cardiff in 1967, obtaining his M.A. after completing a thesis on

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...

. Thomas became an English teacher, working at Shire Oak Grammar School in Walsall Wood, where he was Head of the English Department, as well as King Edward VI Grammar School in Lichfield and other grammar schools in the West Midlands.

Writing career

After unsuccessfully trying script writing for radio, Thomas wrote part-time, with his wife as editor, in two fields: philosophical thoughts in books of essays; and techno-thrillers, a genre whose invention is often attributed to the better-known Tom Clancy, though many fans feel that Thomas was its true originator. Most of Thomas's novels are set within MI6 and feature the characters of Sir Kenneth Aubrey and Patrick Hyde. His best-known novel was '' Firefox'', which brought him to global prominence and spawned a successful

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

, directed by and starring

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...

. After publishing his third novel, the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

espionage thriller ''Wolfsbane'', he left teaching altogether, in 1977. His later books include ''Snow Falcon'' and ''A Different War''. Shortly before his death he finished a two-volume commentary on German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Thomas and his wife Jill had lived in

Whittington Whittington may refer to: Places * Whittington, Victoria, Australia * Whittington, Illinois, United States England * Old Whittington, Derbyshire * New Whittington, Derbyshire * Whittington Moor, Derbyshire * Whittington, Gloucestershire * Whitti ...

near Lichfield,

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

for over 25 years, but moved to Somerset in 2010. He died at age 68 on 4 April 2011 from pneumonia, following a short battle with acute myeloid leukemia.

Publications

* '' Rat Trap'' – Michael Joseph, London (1976) * '' Firefox'' – Michael Joseph, London (1977) * ''Wolfsbane'' – Michael Joseph, London (1978) * ''Moscow 5000'' – Michael Joseph, London (1979) (as David Grant) * ''Snow Falcon'' – Michael Joseph, London (1980) * ''Emerald Decision'' – Michael Joseph, London (1980) (as David Grant) * ''Sea Leopard'' – Michael Joseph, London (1981) * ''Jade Tiger'' – Michael Joseph, London (1982) * '' Firefox Down'' – Michael Joseph, London (1983) * ''The Bear's Tears'' – Michael Joseph, London (1985) (published in the United States as ''Lion's Run'') * ''

Winter Hawk ''Winter Hawk'' is a 1987 thriller (genre), thriller novel written by Craig Thomas (author), Craig Thomas. It is a novel set within a larger continuum linking many of Thomas's other books, including some characters last seen in ''Firefox Down'', ...

'' – Collins, London (1987) * ''All the Grey Cats'' – Collins, London (1988) (published in the United States as ''Wildcat'' (1989)) * ''The Last Raven'' – Collins, London (1990) * ''A Hooded Crow'' – HarperCollins, London (1992) * ''Playing with Cobras'' – HarperCollins, London (1993) * ''A Wild Justice'' – HarperCollins, London (1995) * ''A Different War'' – Little Brown, (1997) * ''Slipping into Shadow'' – Little Brown (1998) ; Non-fiction * ''There to Here: Ideas of Political Society'' – HarperPerennial, London (1991)

References

External links

Bio at Shropshire County CouncilCraig Thomas - The Unofficial Companion
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Craig Alumni of Cardiff University Welsh schoolteachers Welsh novelists Techno-thriller writers Deaths from pneumonia in England Deaths from leukemia Deaths from cancer in England 1942 births 2011 deaths Writers from Cardiff 20th-century Welsh novelists British thriller writers