Editing Geoffrey Jenkins

{{short description|South African writer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Use South African English|date=August 2012}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name             = Geoffrey Jenkins
| image            = 
| image_size       = 
| alt              = 
| caption          = 
| pseudonym        = 
| birth_name       = Geoffrey Ernest Jenkins{{sfn|Murphy|Pulter|1989|p=182}} 
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|df=yes|1920|6|16}}
| birth_place      = [[Pretoria]], [[South Africa]]
| death_date       = {{death date and age|df=yes|2001|11|7|1920|6|16}}
| death_place      = [[Durban]], South Africa
| resting_place    = 
| occupation       = Writer
| language         = 
}}

'''Geoffrey Ernest Jenkins''' (16 June 1920 – 7 November 2001) was a South African journalist, [[novelist]] and screenwriter. His wife [[Eve Palmer]], with whom he collaborated on several works, wrote numerous non-fiction works about Southern Africa.

==Early life==
Jenkins was born either in [[Port Elizabeth]]{{sfn|Reginald|Menville|Burgess|2010|p=953}} or in [[Pretoria]]<ref name="Generations">{{cite journal|url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~haydencowan/Falconer/South%20Africa/Generations%2520-%2520a%2520South%2520African%2520genealogy%2520newsletter.pdf|author=anonymous|title=Obituaries|journal=Generations: A South African Genealogy Newsletter|date=2001–2002|volume=4|issue=30|pages=19–20}}</ref> to Ernest Jenkins, an editor, and Daisy Jenkins.{{sfn|Reginald|Menville|Burgess|2010|p=953}} At age 17, he wrote and had published ''A Century of History'', which received a special eulogy from [[General Jan Smuts]] at the [[Potchefstroom]] centenary celebrations.<ref name="Generations" /> Smuts also wrote the book's introduction.{{sfn|Cornwell|Klopper|MacKenzie|2012|p=2104}}

Jenkins subsequently won the Lord Kemsley Commonwealth Journalistic Scholarship,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kleinschmidt|first=Mary|title=Geoffrey Jenkins at Home|journal=Kaapse Bibliotekaris|volume=26|date=May 1982|page=3}}</ref> which took him to [[Fleet Street]], where he spent [[World War II]] as a [[war correspondent]].

While working for the ''[[Sunday Times]]'', he became friends with author [[Ian Fleming]], creator of the fictional British secret agent [[James Bond]]. Fleming later praised Jenkins' writing, saying "Geoffrey Jenkins has the supreme gift of originality... ''A Twist of Sand'' is a literate, imaginative first novel in the tradition of high and original adventure".

After the war Jenkins settled in [[Rhodesia]], where he met his wife, author [[Eve Palmer]] (1916–1998). They married on 17 March 1950.{{sfn|Reginald|Menville|Burgess|2010|p=953}} They had a son named David (born c. 1953).<ref name="Generations" />

Jenkins was briefly editor of the newspaper ''The Umtali Advertiser''<ref name="Generations" /> then became a reporter at ''The Star'' newspaper in [[Johannesburg]].<ref name="Generations" />

==Writing==
===Early novels===
While working for ''The Star'', he wrote his first novel, A Twist of Sand (1959), which was subsequently translated into 23 languages<ref name="Generations" /> and became a motion picture [[A Twist of Sand|of the same name]] by [[Don Chaffey]] in [[1968 in film|1968]], starring [[Richard Johnson (actor)|Richard Johnson]] and [[Honor Blackman]]. He kept his newspaper job until he had published his third novel.<ref name="Generations" />

Jenkins' 1966 novel ''Hunter-Killer'' was a sequel to ''A Twist of Sand''. ''Hunter-Killer'' opens with the protagonist, Geoffrey Peace RN, faking his own death and funeral at sea, only to clamber aboard a submarine.

===James Bond===
After Ian Fleming's death, [[Ian Fleming Publications|Glidrose Productions]] commissioned Jenkins to write a James Bond novel in 1966. Jenkins claimed that he and Fleming together developed a diamond-smuggling storyline in 1957. After a long period of negotiation, during which Ann Fleming (Ian's widow) raised several objections to the idea of a continuation novel,<ref>{{cite web | title = The Geoffry Jenkins Letters (1) | url = http://www.mi6.co.uk/sections/articles/literary_per_fine_ounce_letters1.php3?s=literary | access-date=2010-09-03}}{{dead link|date=May 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Jenkins finished the manuscript for Glidrose entitled ''[[Per Fine Ounce]]'', but it was rejected. The novel is believed lost, except for 18 pages now in the hands of Jenkins' son David. Two pages have been released to the public and were exclusively published by the James Bond website [[MI6-HQ.com]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Per Fine Ounce Exclusive Extract | url = http://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/literary_per_fine_ounce_extract.php3 | access-date=2010-09-03}}</ref> Ian Fleming Publications (formerly Glidrose) allegedly returned their copies of the manuscript after rejecting it.

===Later works===
Jenkins did colour photography for his wife's non-fiction work ''Trees of Southern Africa'' (1972).<ref name="Generations" /> The couple travelled over 100,000 miles to research this three volume work.<ref name="Veldtrust (1972)">{{cite journal|last=Robertson|first=T.C.|title=Karoo Girl from Plains of Camdeboo Writes — A Tree Book to Wonder At|journal=Veldtrust|publisher=National Veld Trust|year=1972|page=16 (54)}}</ref> They subsequently collaborated on the 1978 travel book ''The Companion Guide to South Africa''. Helene Moore of the [[Knight Ridder]] syndicate believed that it was "impossible to cram everything pertinent into one guidebook and do a thorough job of it," but felt that the authors have chosen "the right solution." Moore claimed that the over four-hundred page book gave the authors sufficient space "for single-minded reporting on what to see at the bottom of this exotic continent - plus plentry of space for history, legend and all the personal commentary that enriches any travel book. Good reading even if you're not headed that way."<ref>{{cite news|last=Moore|first=Helene|title=Trips Should Be Fun: Guidebooks Can Get You In Right Frame of Mind|newspaper=[[Evening Independent]]|location=St. Petersburg, Florida|date=22 April 1980|page=11A|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kGFQAAAAIBAJ&pg=6303,1836053&dq=companion-guide-to-south-africa&hl=en}}</ref>

===Later years and death===
Jenkins published his final novel ''A Daystar of Fear'' in 1993. Jenkins moved from Pretoria to his son David's home in [[Durban]].<ref name="Generations" /> According to an obituary, he was planning to write a sequel to ''Scend of the Sea'' shortly before his death in 2001.<ref name="Generations" />

==Film adaptations==
Three of his novels have been filmed. ''[[A Twist of Sand]]'' (1968) co-starred [[Honor Blackman]] and [[Richard Johnson (actor)|Richard Johnson]], director [[Terence Young (director)|Terence Young]]'s original choice for James Bond. ''Dirty Games'' (1989), based on ''In Harm's Way'', co-starred [[Jan-Michael Vincent]].

''The River of Diamonds'' (1990) had been set for production in the 1960s. During the 1980s [[Brian Clemens]] wrote a script. [[Sylvester Stallone]] - who asked for {{USD|9M}} and a share of the profits - and [[Tom Selleck]] - who asked for {{USD|1.5M}} and a share of the profits - were approached to star, but asked too much money which the production couldn't afford. A journal describes this as South Africa's "most ambitious film project" with what was at the time to have been the biggest budget financed by a South African producer estimated to have been between two and three million [[South African rand|Rand]].<ref name="SAD">{{cite journal|journal=South African Digest|year=1984|page=199}}</ref>

==Works==
===Novels===
* ''A Twist of Sand'' (1959)
* ''The Watering-Place of Good Peace'' (1960; revised 1974)
* ''A Grue of Ice'' (1962) published in the U.S. as ''The Disappearing Island''
* ''The River of Diamonds'' (1964)
* ''Hunter-Killer'' (1966)
* ''Scend of the Sea'' (1971) published in the U.S. as ''The Hollow Sea''
* ''A Cleft of Stars'' (1973)
* ''A Bridge of Magpies'' (1974)
* ''South Trap'' (1979) published in paperback as ''Southtrap''
* ''A Ravel of Waters'' (1981)
* ''The Unripe Gold'' (1983)
* ''Fireprint'' (1984)
* ''In Harm's Way'' (1986)
* ''Hold Down a Shadow'' (1989)
* ''A Hive of Dead Men'' (1991)
* ''A Daystar of Fear'' (1993)
;Unpublished
* ''Per Fine Ounce'' (circa 1966)
* ''A Kiss of Thorns''
* ''Disquietly to His Grave''
* ''A Gate of Blood''
* ''A Knot of Fire''

===Non-fiction===
* ''A Century of History: The Story of Potchefstroom'' (1939; 2nd edition 1971)
* ''The Companion Guide to South Africa'' (1978), with [[Eve Palmer]]
;Photography only
* {{cite book|last1=Palmer|first1=Eve|author-link1=Eve Palmer|last2=Pitman|first2=Norah|title=Trees of Southern Africa|year=1972|publisher=A. A. Balkema|others=colour photography by Geoffrey Jenkins and others}} (3 vols.)

===Unproduced screenplay===
* ''Fifth Paw of the Lion'' (1966, Columbia Pictures, [[Charles H. Schneer]] Productions)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

;Cited works
* {{cite book|last1=Cornwell|first1=Gareth|last2=Klopper|first2=Dirk|last3=MacKenzie|first3=Craig|title=The Columbia Guide to South African Literature in English Since 1945|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|year=2012|isbn=9780231503815|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/columbiaguidetos0000corn}}
* {{cite book|last1=Lane|first1=Andy|last2=Simpson|first2=Paul|author-link1=Andy Lane|title=The Bond Files|year=2000|publisher=Virgin |isbn=0-7535-0490-1}}
* {{cite book|last1=Murphy|first1=Allison|last2=Pulter|first2=Phillida Brooke|editor-last=Joyce|editor-first=Peter|title=The South African Family Encyclopaedia|publisher=Struik Publishers|year=1989|isbn=9780869778876}} <!--- Uncertain if Brooke in 2nd author's name is a middle name or surname--->
* {{cite book|editor-last1=Reginald|editor-first1=R|editor-last2=Menville|editor-first2=Douglas|editor-last3=Burgess|editor-first3=Mary A|title=Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, Volume 2|publisher=Wildside Press|year=2010|isbn=9780941028783}}
* {{Cite news |title=Obituaries |newspaper=Generations - a South African genealogy newsletter |pages=19–20 |volume=4 |issue=30 |url=http://www.rupert.net/~lkool/Generations%20-%20a%20South%20African%20genealogy%20newsletter.pdf  |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512145653/http://www.rupert.net/~lkool/Generations%20-%20a%20South%20African%20genealogy%20newsletter.pdf |archive-date=12 May 2008 |df=dmy }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060505065533/http://www.dispatch.co.za/2001/11/15/features/JENKINS.HTM Obituary, ''Daily Dispatch'']

==External links==
* {{Official website}}
* {{IMDb name|id=0420845|name=Geoffrey Jenkins}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Geoffrey}}
[[Category:1920 births]]
[[Category:2001 deaths]]
[[Category:South African people of British descent]]
[[Category:South African male novelists]]
[[Category:Thriller writers]]
[[Category:20th-century South African novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century South African male writers]]
[[Category:South African expatriates in Southern Rhodesia]]