Jim Harrison- the acclaimed American author best known for his 1979 novella Legends of the Fall – has passed away at the age of 78.
According to a statement from his publicist, Harrison died Son aturday afternoon at his home in Patagonia, Arizona.
No cause of death was given.
Though it was Harrison’s work in Hollywood that garnered the most attention, his career as a poet and novelist has made him a towering figure in the literary world since he first began publishing back in the ’70s.
The proud native of rural Michigan won over generations of readers with his humorous, semi-autobiographical Brown Dog series – six novellas focusing on the misadventures of a boozy, lusty title character who brings to mind Hemingway with a sense of humor or a thinking man’s Bukowski.
Harrison’s food writing, as well as his reputation as a man’s man with a passion for the back-to-the-land living, made him a favorite of celebrity chefs such as Anthony Bourdain (who dined with the author on one of his TV series) and Mario Batali (a frequent duck hunting partner).
Like so many writers before him, Harrison reluctantly turned to Hollywood in the later years of his career.
After the movie adaptation of Fall proved to be a box office success (and the breakthrough project for a young actor named Brad Pitt), Harrison worked on several other films, including the 1994 Jack Nicholson-Mike Nichols collaboration Wolf, for which he wrote the screenplay.
Harrison’s wife of 54 years passed away in 2015. He is survived by his two daughters.