Bryce Courtenay was a South African-Australian author, born on August 14, 1933, in a secluded property in the Lebombo Mountains, South Africa. He was raised by his two parents, Maude Greer, a dressmaker, and Arthur Ryder, a salesman. Courtenay's childhood was spent in a small town deep in the Lebombo mountains, where he grew up among farm folk and the African people. At the age of five, he was sent to a boarding school, which might be better described as a combination orphanage and reform school, where he learned to box as a means of self-defense.
Courtenay later moved to Barberton in the North Eastern part of the country, where he met Doc, a drunken German music teacher who spent the next few years filling his young mind with the wonders of nature as they roamed the high mountains. This was the best education he ever received, despite the scholarship he won to a prestigious boy's school and thereafter to a university in England, where he studied Journalism. Courtenay came to Australia because he was banned from returning to his own country due to starting a weekend school for Africans in the school hall of the prestigious boy's school he attended. He then married Benita, an Australian girl, and had three sons, Brett, Adam, and Damon.
Courtenay is known for his historical fiction and coming-of-age stories, with his novels generally set in either South Africa or Australia. Although he is one of the most successful authors to come out of Australia, only one of his books has been published in the United States - The Power of One. The Power of One became a bestselling novel in Australia and was adapted into a film. Courtenay passed away due to gastric cancer in 2012, leaving behind a legacy of successful novels that have touched the lives of many. He is survived by his second wife, Christine Gee, and his children Adam and Brett.