Forsyth, Frederick

Frederick Forsyth is a major author of political thrillers. He was born in Ashford, Kent, England, as the only child in a family of furriers. He became interested in books as a young child and attended Tonbridge School, a public school where he showed a great gift for languages, and he dreamed of becoming a journalist, preferably foreign correspondent. Aviation was another major interest, and after leaving Tonbridge School in 1956, Forsyth joined the Royal Air Force where he trained as a fighter pilot. He left in 1958 to work as a journalist, first in Norwich and later in King's Lynn on the east coast of England. These years have had an important impact on his future writing career. After three years at the Eastern Daily Press he was employed at the Reuters news agency in London. Because he was good at languages, he was first posted to Paris and then to East Berlin. In 1965, he became foreign correspondent for the BBC.