Bestselling author Wilbur Smith dead at 88

Similar statements were published on the Wilbur Smith Books website and social media pages as well as on the website of The Wilbur and Niso Smith Foundation.

South African Smith, who was born in today's Zambia, published his first novel, When The Lion Feeds, in 1964. 

Over the course of his career he published 49 novels and sold more than 140 million copies worldwide in more than thirty languages, according to a statement published on the Wilbur Smith Books website.

"We are so grateful to his millions of fans across the world who cherished his incredible writing and joined us all on his amazing adventures," Wilbur Smith's office said in a tweet.