`Shogun' Author James Clavell Dies

LONDON - James Clavell best-selling author of "Shogun," has died in Vevey, Switzerland, where he had a home.

Claudia Riemer, spokeswoman for publisher Dell/Delacorte Press, said Mr. Clavell, 69, died of cancer yesterday.

The exact type was not known, although Riemer said he had been ill for just a brief period. "His death was a surprise to us all," she said.

Started as a screenwriter

The Australian-born Mr. Clavell, who lived in Switzerland, was a screenwriter of popular movies, such as the first version of "The Fly," "The Great Escape," and "To Sir With Love."

His novels about the Far East include "King Rat" and "Tai-Pan." Both were made into movies, "King Rat" in 1965, with George Segal and Tom Courtenay, and "Tai-Pan" in 1986, with Bryan Brown and Joan Chen.

"Shogun" and "Noble House" were made into television miniseries. The 1980 Emmy-winning, 10-hour version of "Shogun" starred Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune. "Noble House," in 1988, featured Pierce Brosnan and Deborah Raffin.

Mr. Clavell's latest novel "Gai-Jin" was published last year and was also a bestseller.

"He was one of the great epic storytellers of our age - a man who was deeply imbued in tradition, and also enormous fun to work with," said Major.

Explaining the popularity of "Shogun," Major said, "It took the Western mind into a completely different world. It was the first time that one began to understand the Japanese. This came from the

period when he was incarcerated as a POW at Chang Yi prison in Singapore, as a young man in his early 20s.

"He also had this ability to handle vast casts of characters . . . to give them personalities so they were instantly recognizable - also all of his books had a very strong woman at the center of them."

He used war experiences

Mr. Clavell was born Oct. 10, 1924, in Sydney, Australia, to British parents. His father was in the Royal Navy.

During World War II Mr. Clavell was imprisoned by the Japanese at the Chang Yi camp.

After the war he went into films as a writer, then began to direct his own work - "To Sir With Love" and "The Last Valley."

He moved to Hollywood and first turned to writing novels in 1960 when a screenwriters strike left him idle.

The result was "King Rat," inspired by his Chang Yi experiences. The 1962 bestseller started him in his immensely successful career. He wrote "Tai-Pan" in 1966, and produced book after book of intriguing historical tales set mostly in Asia.

Mr. Clavell lived for many years in the United States and in France.

In a 1993 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Mr. Clavell said he woke up every morning thinking "Hello world, here I am again."

"I should have died so many times before I was 18 that I have an appreciation of life most people don't have," he said.

He is survived by his wife of 40 years, April Clavell, and two daughters, Major said. Funeral plans were not immediately announced.

(The Reuter news service contributed to this report.)