ROBERT JORDANThe author Robert Jordan was best known for the top-selling Wheel of Time fantasy series which was left uncompleted after his death on September 16, 2007, at the age of 58.Born James Oliver Rigney Jr on 17 October, 1948, Robert Jordan was raised in Charleston, South Carolina. He taught himself to read when he was four and was tackling Mark Twain and Jules Verne by five.He graduated from the Citadel Military College of South Carolina with a degree in physics. He then served two tours in Vietnam with the US Army, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bronze Star medals.He began writing in 1977 after being hospitalized with an injury. He believed he could write as well as, if not better than, the authors he had been reading during his recuperation.His first novel, The Fallon Blood (the first part in the Fallon trilogy) was published in 1980 under the name Reagan O'Neal. A historical romance novel, it follows Irish fugitive Michael Fallon as he escapes to South Carolina and falls in love with a merchant’s daughter. The other two books in the series follow the fortunes of Fallon’s son and grandson respectively.In the 1980s, Mr Jordan was one of several writers to write new Conan the Barbarian stories, producing six original stories and one movie novelisation.The first book in the Wheel of Time series, The Eye of the World, was published in 1990. The series featured intricate and manifold plots revolving around hero Rand al'Thor and the various races inhabiting the Randland.The series is characterised by the size and complexity of its volumes, leading to comparisons with J R R Tolkien and Frank Herbert. In 2005 Mr Jordan said that the final book in the series, A Memory of Light, could be as long as 1,500 pages because there were so many plot elements to wrap up.However, in March 2006 he was diagnosed with the heart condition cardiac amyloidosis. He continued to work, also posting on his blog to reassure fans that the book was on its way, but progress was slow and it remained unfinished at the time of his death.The pen name of Robert Jordan was a subject of speculation throughout his career, with some believing he took it from the main character of Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls. However, he later said that he chose it because the first three letters of “Jordan” matched his real initials.As well as his novels, he was a history buff and had also written dance and theatre criticism. Away from writing, his hobbies included hunting, fishing, sailing, poker and chess.He was survived by his wife Harriet McDougal with whom he lived in his hometown of Charleston, South Carolina.
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