AUTHOR Lee Child has revealed how his bestselling character Jack Reacher was inspired by a trip to Asda.
The writer regular visited the chain’s Cumbria branch before he found success with the crime thriller series.
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Being 6ft 4ins, Lee said he was often asked to reach up to the top shelf to fetch goods for shorter shoppers.
And it was one of these encounters that inspired the name behind the series.
When asked if the story was true during an interview with BBC Breakfast, he said: “Yes, Asda in Kendal.
“I went with my wife shopping, I’d just lost my job and we were very nervous about what we were going to do.
” And every time I go in a supermarket, there’s a little old lady that says ‘oh you’re a nice tall gentlemen, will you reach me that can?’.
“So my wife sort of made a joke.
“She said, ‘You know if the writing gig doesn’t work, you could be a Reacher in a supermarket’ and I thought ‘great name’ – lightbulb moment.”
Lee – whose real name is Jim Grant – published his first Jack Reacher book, Killing Floor, in 1997.
He said since written a further 28 – selling a total of 100 million copies of the hit books.
Killing Floor has been adapted for the screen, with Tom Cruise playing Jack Reacher.
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And most recently, the titular character has been played by Alan Ritchson in an Amazon series.
Lee began writing the series after losing his job in TV production.
Asda Kendal has now paid homage to the series.
Bosses have placed a Green Plaque on one of the top shelves that “real” Jack Reacher once graced.
A spokesperson for Asda said: “Lee Child is one the UK’s finest writing exports and has been thrilling readers for decades.
“We’re honoured the inspiration for his most famous character came from one of our stores, and there’s always a green fleece with his name on it here if he ever fancies a shift.”
REACHER SUCCESS
Lee released Blue Moon, the 24th book in the series, in 2019 with a Reacher book selling every 13 seconds in the world.
Previously, Lee told the Sun of the appeal of his protagonist.
He said: “Jack Reacher is both a contemporary hero and a throwback — a lone hero who saves the day.
“That type of character has been around for ever. You can trace him back through the Westerns, Robin Hood and way back in history.
“People really want this guy. Why else would we keep reinventing this character and enjoying him.
“Reacher slots neatly into the folk hero tradition, specifically the knight errant subgroup, which seems to be universal in appeal.”
A-list actor Tom Cruise starred in the movie adaptation of the Lee Child book series in 2012 as well as its 2016 sequel, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.
Yet in 2020 the Top Gun star was replaced by a “taller actor” as Amazon Prime snapped up the rights to the TV series.
This switch saw Alan Ritchson take on the iconic role.
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