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Author Pratchett has Alzheimer's | |
(about 16 hours later) | |
Author Terry Pratchett is suffering from a rare form of early Alzheimer's disease, it has been revealed. | Author Terry Pratchett is suffering from a rare form of early Alzheimer's disease, it has been revealed. |
In a letter published on the website of artist Paul Kidby, the writer said the condition was behind a "phantom stroke" he had earlier this year. | |
Pratchett said his statement should be interpreted as "I am not dead" and that he had taken the news "philosophically" and "possibly with a mild optimism". | |
The Discworld author, 59, has sold more than 55 million books worldwide. | |
"I would have liked to keep this one quiet for a little while," he wrote in a letter headed 'An Embuggerance'. | |
Frankly, I would prefer it if people kept things cheerful - I think there's time for at least a few more books yet Terry Pratchett | |
"But because of upcoming conventions and of course the need to keep my publishers informed, it seems to me unfair to withhold the news." | |
The author said work was continuing on his latest works, Nation and Unseen Academicals, and that there was "time for at least a few more books yet". | |
"All other things being equal, I expect to meet most current and, as far as possible, future commitments." | |
"Frankly, I would prefer it if people kept things cheerful," he continued, saying it was "too soon to tell" if the condition was immediately life-threatening. | |
Parallel universe | |
"I will, of course, be dead at some future point, as will everybody else. For me, this maybe further off than you think. | |
"I know it's a very human thing to say 'Is there anything I can do?' but in this case I would only entertain offers from very high-end experts in brain chemistry." | |
Pratchett, whose work has been translated into 27 languages, was made an OBE in 1998 for services to British literature. | |
The Discworld series is set in a parallel universe supported on the backs of four elephants that stand on the shell of a turtle. | |
Making Money, the 36th novel in the sequence, was published earlier this year. | |