About Chris
Chris was born in Birmingham England in 1955 and when he was 15, his father was transferred to Johannesburg, South Africa where Chris and his brother Rob completed their schooling. When Chris’s parents went back to the UK, Chris and Rob decided to stay in Johannesburg and went to Wits University.
At 19, Chris together with his girlfriend and best friend, was involved in a horrific accident when a drunk driver rear ended them so violently, that Chris’s car rolled onto its roof which then came off. Chris’s girlfriend died at the scene. Chris survived only because the back of his seat broke and he landed up in a reclining position but with the top of his head sliced off against the tarmac.
He recalled lying in the ambulance while his best friend died next to him. He “died” on the operating table and talked of his experience of “going towards a white light”. He was not ready to die, he told a “person” in the light. Chris recounted to Lynn that he was told by this “person” that if he went back, he would have a very difficult life. But he wanted to go back. He referred to this in the blog he wrote on February 2nd 2014. He did indeed have a difficult life.
He had months in a coma where his family refused to turn off life support.. After a long period of physical rehabilitation, he continued his life, but with constant back and neck pain. He was very lucky to be alive, but he battled addictions for many years. He became part of the 12 step program, went to group meetings and qualified as a group counsellor.
Chris later studied at Wits University changing from a BComm to a BA and then to a BA Economics. He also tried a year in the bush thinking that geology was a better field for him.
He then went into advertising, becoming a copywriter and then a creative director.
During his first marriage in the 1990’s during which he had a daughter Danielle, Chris wrote his first novel Hyena Dawn which was published by Heineman, a British publishing house. He went on to write 3 more books, all of which were published in hardcopy. From the magazine articles Lynn later found in his files, it was clear he had been highly lauded for his books, with one headline calling him the new Wilbur Smith. He actually wrote a 5th novel at the time but he only published it on Amazon along with the other 4 books in 2014.
When Chris was in his late 40’s a chance check-up with the urologist revealed that he had prostate cancer. He underwent brachytherapy at the time and luckily the cancer was eradicated.