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Terry Pratchett’s unpublished works destroyed by steamroller

Terry Pratchett's manager has kept his promise to the late author by having a steamroller crush a hard drive containing his unpublished works.

Terry Pratchett's manager has kept his promise to the late author by having a steamroller crush a hard drive containing his unpublished works. Photo: Getty

Fans of the Terry Pratchett will never know what could have been after a collection of the late fantasy writer’s unpublished works were ritually destroyed this week.

It is thought up to 10 incomplete novels were on a hard drive, flattened at the beloved author’s wishes by a vintage steamroller.

The manager of Terry Pratchett’s estate, Rob Wilkins, said he honoured the late author’s wishes by destroying the works at the Great Dorset Steam Fair.

The six-and-a-half tonne Lord Jericho was used to roll over the hard drive several times before a concrete crusher finished off the remains.

Wilkins posted a picture of himself near a steamroller and tweeted: “About to fulfil my obligation to Terry.”

He followed up with an image of a broken hard drive and wrote: “There goes the browsing history…”

What is left of the object will go on display at England’s Salisbury Museum in September, as part of the exhibition, Terry Pratchett: HisWorld.

Pratchett, one of Britain’s best-loved authors who created the Discworld series and wrote about 70 books, died in 2015 at the age of 66. He suffered from early onset Alzheimer’s disease.

Richard Henry, curator of Salisbury Museum, said told BBC Pratchett did not want his unpublished works to be completed by someone else and released.

“It’s something you’ve got to follow, and it’s really nice that they have followed his requests so specifically,” Henry said.

“It’s surprisingly difficult to find somebody to run over a hard drive with a steamroller.

“I think a few people thought we were kidding when I first started putting out feelers to see if it was possible or not.”

– With AAP

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