James Hadley Chase:
Facts you probably didn't
know about him

He was born on December 24, 1906.

He was born Rene Lodge Brabazon Raymond

James Hadley Chase was just one
of various pseudonyms (pen name)
he used, and the most popular
one. Others were James L. Docherty,
Raymond Marshall, R. Raymond and
Ambrose Grant.

Born to Colonel Francis Raymond
of the Colonial Indian Army, he served
in the Royal Airforce during
During World War II.

His writing career saw him produced
over 90 thriller books.

You can get hold of any or all of these
novels (paperbacks or hardcover)
easily straight from the U.S today on
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For example, you can order the
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50 of his books have been made
into films.

Below are the full list of his books:

1. No Orchids for Miss Blandish - 1939
2. The Dead Stay Dumb - 1941
3. The Dolls Bad News - 1941
4. Miss Callghan Comes to Grief - 1941
5. Get a Load of This - 1942
6. Miss Shumway Waves a Wand - 1944
7. Eve - 1945
8. I'll Get You for This - 1946
9. Last Page - 1947
10. The Flesh of the Orchid - 1948
11. You Never Know With Women - 1949
12. You're Lonely When You're Dead - 1949
13. Figure It Out for Yourself - 1950
14. Strictly for Cash - 1951
15. The Fast Buck - 1952
16. Double Shuffle - 1952
17. I'll Bury My Dead - 1953
18. This Way for a Shroud - 1953
19. Tiger By The Tail - 1954
20. Safer Dead - 1954
21. You've Got It Coming - 1955
22. There's Always a Price Tag - 1956
23. The Guilty Are Afraid - 1957
24. Not Safe to Be Free - 1958
25. Shock Treatment - 1959
26. The World In My Pocket - 1959
27. What's Better Than Money - 1960
28. Come Easy - Go Easy - 1960
29. A Lotus for Miss Quon - 1961
30. Just Another Sucker - 1961
31. I Would Rather Stay Poor - 1962
32. A Coffin from Hong Kong - 1962
33. One Bright Summer Morning - 1963
34. Tell It to The Birds - 1963
35. The Soft Centre - 1964
36. This is for Real - 1965
37. The Way the Cookie Crumbles - 1965
38. You Have Yourself A Deal - 1966
39. Cade - 1966
40. Have This One on Me - 1967
41. Well Now - My Pretty - 1967
42. An Ear to the Ground - 1968
43. Believed Violet - 1968
44. The Whiff of Money - 1969
45. The Vulture Is a Patient Bird - 1969
46. Like a Hole in the Head - 1970
47. There's a Hippie on the Highway - 1970
48. Want to Stay Alive? - 1971
49. An Ace Up My Sleeve - 1971
50. Just a Matter of Time - 1972
51. You're Dead Without Money - 1972
52. Have a Change of Scene - 1973
53. Knock, Knock! Who's There?
54. So What Happens To Me? - 1974
55. Goldfish Have No Hiding Place - 1974
56. Believe This - You'll Believe Anything - 1975
57. The Joker In The Pack - 1975
58. Do Me a Favour, Drop Dead - 1976
59. My Laugh Comes Last - 1977
60. I Hold the Four Aces - 1977
61. Consider Yourself Dead - 1978
62. You Must Be Kidding - 1979
63. A Can of Worms - 1979
64. You Can Say That Again - 1980
65. Try This One for Size - 1980
66. Hand Me a Fig Leaf - 1981
67. Have a Nice Night - 1982
68. We'll Share a Double Funeral - 1982
69. Not My Thing - 1983
70. Hit Them Where It Hurts - 1984
71. He Won't Need It Now - 1941
72. Lady, Here's Your Wreath - 1940
73. Just The Way It Is - 1944
74. Blonde's Requiem - 1945
75. Make The Corpse Walk - 1947
76. No Business of Mine - 1947
77. Trusted Like the Fox - 1948
78. The Paw in the Bottle - 1949
79. Mallory - 1950
80. But A Short Time To Live - 1951
81. Why Pick on Me? - 1951
82. In A Vain Shadow - 1951
84. The Wary Transgressor - 1952
85. The Things Men Do - 1953
86. The Sucker Punch - 1954
87. Mission To Venice - 1954
88. Mission To Sienna - 1955
89. You Find Him, I'll Fix Him - 1956
90. Hit And Run - 1958
91. Slipstream: A Royal Airforce Anthology - 1946
92. More Deadly Than The Male - 1947

His novels' biggest market was France,
although also popular in other European
markets, Africa and Asia.

His books failed to take hold in the
American market.

Chase got married to Sylvia Ray in
1932 and they had a son.

He died in Switzerland at the age of 78

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Chinua Achebe's Death (My Responses)

Question 1:            How did you get the news about Achebe’s death?

Answer:                 I got the news through a news feed on facebook.

Question 2:            How does it feel?

It was a rude shock. To me as a person it came as a poetic declaration of the end of a glorious literary era being that the news came just a day after I finished reading his latest work “There was a country: a personal history of Biafra”.

Question 3:            What are your views about him as a person and as a writer?

Answer:                 I have not been privileged to have personal contacts with him in his lifetime but I hold him in very high regards especially for the lofty ideals he stood for and for his numerous interventions at critical moments in our national history.  His double rejection of national honours on principled grounds is not only salutary but also exemplary at a time morality had taken flight in our public and private lives and the award is being bastardised by bestowing it on people of questionable character.

                             As a writer, his contributions cannot be quantified. He has played a critical role in projecting the cultural heritage of his people, the Igbo and by implication the black race as a whole.  His works have continued to be veritable sources of reference materials for students of literature at home and abroad.  Even though his last work on Biafran history stirred lots of controversy, it only strengthens the fact that he is a man of his own convictions and is always ready to stand by them to the end no matter whose ox is gored.

Question:              What would you say are his major achievements?

Answer:                 Firstly, he had charted a course for the development of African literature. Secondly, his great works like Things fall apart, A man of the people, Arrow of God, The trouble with Nigeria, etc., will remain indelible in the minds of his teeming fans. Thirdly, Achebe remains a reference point and a champion of accountable leadership which he believes is the major ingredient for growth and development. Last but by no means the least, he has pioneered the growth of the prose genre of African literature and his works have inspired many up-coming artists of his generation who themselves have become household names in the literary world such as Elechi Amadi, Osidore Ekpewho, Ayi Kweh Armah to mention but a few.

Question:              Would you say the world has rewarded him for pioneering the African literature:

Answer:                 One of the hallmarks of any writer is for his works to gain wide readership and in this regard Achebe stands out as the most widely read African novelist whose works have been translated into many world languages.  To this extent, I think he has enjoyed his own fair share of the African literary space.

                             It is however sad that the society, especially African societies have refused to put into practice the ideals he stood for and passionately preached about in his outstanding works.  It is on record that throughout his life he stood against corruption and other unwholesome practices that unfortunately continue to be the bane of human progress and development especially in his immediate constituencies i.e. Nigeria, Africa and indeed most third world economies. In that regard, we have not fairly rewarded his efforts.

Question:              How would you want him immortalized by the Nigerian government?

Answer:                 Nigerian government can immortalize him by naming one of the newly-founded federal universities after him.  Another way of immortalizing him is by making his works a consistent part of our student’s syllabuses especially at secondary and tertiary levels.  It is also pertinent that government sponsors writers’ associations to institute annual essay competition in his honour.  But the greatest way through which we can immortalize Achebe is by giving practical application to his works.  If Nigeria becomes a better place through the influence of his works, he will be a happy man wherever he is.

Question:              What else would you want to say about him?

Answer:                 He was a great man of history who humbly came, practically saw, bravely played his part, passionately stood by his convictions all the way, and left gloriously when the ovation was still very loud!

ABU, A Living Legacy At 50 - By Bala Yahaya

One of the greatest legacies bequeathed to Northern Nigeria and by extension, the entire nation by the late Sir Ahmadu Bello Sardauna of Sokoto is the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria aptly and deservedly named after him.  Established in the year 1962, this great institution has served as a great citadel of learning, research as well as a veritable source of highly-qualified manpower not only for the region but for the country as a whole. From a humble beginning at inception with about 15 departments and 426 students, today the institution boasts of 12 faculties, 82 departments, a student population of over 50,000 and a post-graduate school, among many other such lofty attainments.

One of the major achievements of the institution is that it has succeeded in bringing higher education to the doorstep of the average Northern Nigerian. This is no mean achievement especially when considered against the backdrop of the wide educational gap between the Northern and Southern part of the country at independence.  Also as a Federal institution, ABU has accommodated and nurtured many students from other parts of the country thus further entrenching the Nigerian spirit in our youth.

Secondly as mentioned in the introductory paragraph of this piece ABU has played a critical role in providing the Northern region and indeed Nigeria with highly trained manpower.  The number of professionals produced by the giant institution that have carved a niche for themselves in different spheres of human endeavor cannot be quantified. For instance, the institution has produced accomplished doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, poets and vets among many other such professionals that have put Nigeria’s name on the global map of their respective professions.   In addition to this, the institution today arguably stands out as the highest single producer of current high profile political office holders in the country. By way of roll call, it was ABU that produced Vice President Namadi Sambo, and Governors Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, Ibrahim Shema, Usman Saidu Dakingari, Isa Yuguda, Umaru Tanko Almakura, Ibrahim Geidam and Ibrahim Dankwambo.  The institution also produced former governors Donald Duke, Bukar Abba Ibrahim, Kabir Gaya, Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, Ahmed Adamu Muazu and Ibrahim Shekarau.

Furthermore through its specialized research institutes ABU has played a very important role in advancing the frontiers of knowledge and finding time-tested solutions to problems with far reaching effects on the scientific, technological, economic, political, and socio-cultural development of the country.  For instance, the firebrand ABU intellectual tradition as carried on by the institutions’ outstanding scholars in the mould of the likes of Abdullahi Smith, Patrick Wilmot, Dr. Bala Usman, to mention but a few cannot be discountenanced when discussing the country’s socio-political evolution over the years.  Also through years of rigorous agricultural researches, great discoveries have been made that significantly contributed to the transformation of our hitherto basically subsistent agricultural system which forms the bedrock of the Northern economy into a fairly modern one.

Moreover through its post-graduate school, ABU has created a window for higher academic attainments for aspiring individuals which give further boost to professionalism and specialization in chosen academic fields. Apart from graduates of other universities who find themselves within its catchment, graduates of other higher institutions such as polytechnics also get the opportunity through the PG School to broaden their academic horizon by aspiring for higher degrees in their fields of specialization.  Through this, the institution greatly assists the region’s governmental, non-governmental and private organisations in meeting not only their middle level but also high-level manpower needs.

Having highlighted some of the great achievements of this equally great institution it is now pertinent to turn our attention to some of the most critical challenges bedeviling it and how they can be surmounted.  In its recent ranking of African Universities for 2012 released in July for instance, Webometrics, the online ranking agency, ranked ABU 76^th out of 100 leading African Universities with mostly South African Universities taking the lead.  Other Nigerian Universities that made it to the first 100 list include the University of Ibadan 45^th, Ilorin 47^th, Unilag 55^th, UNN 64^th, OAU 79^th, and Jos 88^th!  Whatever the shortcomings of the Webometric’s ranking criteria, this situation certainly calls for sober reflection as it shows clearly that our Universities are not favourably competing even in Africa let alone the entire globe! 

In the first place one of the major problems confronting ABU as an institution is underfunding. Because of the growing popularity of the institution among prospective undergraduate and postgraduate students and its ever-growing size, existing structures are been overstretched while many are outrightly obsolete. There is no gainsaying the fact that for the institution to favourably compete with its peers both at home and abroad there is the need to upgrade its research and learning facilities as well as its human capital to become up to date with global academic standards. This position was put more succinctly by the Institution’s Vice Chancellor who in a recent outing stated thus “ABU needs funds to replace and rehabilitate decaying infrastructure, teaching and research facilities. We also know that great universities are those supported by their alumni. A clear example is Harvard which is one of the richest universities in the world on the grounds that it receives over $50 billion as endowment fund from its alumni. I expect our alumni to emulate the BlackBerry founder who has alone donated over $250 million to his Alma Mata, Waterloo University. And with such support from our alumni, ABU will transform”.

With the caliber of ABU alumni some of whom were mentioned in the earlier part of this piece, I personally see no reason why ABU should starve. The alumni must see it as a personal challenge to come to their Alma Mata’s rescue especially at this very critical moment in its history.  It is also pertinent to call on especially Northern state governments who have immensely benefitted from Sardauna’s foresight to come to the rescue of one of his most enduring and beneficial legacies that remains the very pride of the region.  If for no other reason else, they must be eternally indebted to the institution whose products largely form the bedrock of their civil service all these years.

Also the ABU authorities on their own part must look into other areas of alternative funding. Nothing, for instance, stops the University from floating an institutional bond to raise long-term funds to finance its capital projects.  Also in deciding on such projects consideration must be given to provision of income-yielding assets that will serve as veritable source of continuous funding for the institution.

One last thing: ABU and other legacies of the great northern icon Sir Ahmadu Bello, like the Kaduna Polytechnic, Radio Nigeria Kaduna, ABU Teaching Hospital, Ahmadu Bello Stadium among many others should serve as living examples of what can be achieved with purposeful leadership.  Thus, our current crop of leaders who immensely benefitted from the foresight of the great legend must take a cue by initiating and executing meaningful projects that will outlive them and cast their names in gold.  The Sardauna example has shown clearly that leadership is not about amassing illegal wealth neither is it about driving in convoy of flashy cars nor living in state-of-the-art mansions. No, it is about service!

Long Live ABU!