James Bond continuation author John Gardner dies aged 80

06-Aug-2007 • Literary

Like the tough hero of his novels, James Bond author John Gardner, who has died at the age of 80, was built of stern stuff - reports The Daily Mail.

So it was no surprise that his first act after collapsing near his home in Basingstoke last Friday was to telephone his daughter, Alexis.

"He told me he'd had a bit of a turn and thought he'd fainted," says Alexis. "Two doctors happened to be passing and - typical of him - he said he didn't need an ambulance. Then he took a turn for the worse and was rushed to hospital."

Despite treatment, Gardner, who wrote 14 James Bond novels after Ian Fleming's death, died of suspected heart failure.

His passing comes after he left the U.S. having spent a fortune on treatment for cancer - a homecoming which led to the rekindling of romance with his university sweetheart Patricia, whom he split from in 1949.

Gardner went on to marry - his wife of 45 years, Margaret, died in 1997 - but remembered Patricia by using her maiden name for Suzie Mountford, the heroine of his recent World War II thrillers. The connection led to the couple getting engaged for a second time three years ago.

Eerily, Alexis tells me Patricia, 77, had a premonition of her father's death. "She complained of feeling very cold at the time he collapsed. She is distraught."

Click here to read John Gardner's obituary on MI6.