Author Jim Harrison Dead at 78

Author Jim Harrison has died at age 78, according to his publisher. Best known for his book Legends of the Fall and his masculine tales from the rural American West, the writer reportedly died Saturday at his winter home in Patagonia, Arizona. He was the author of 21 volumes of fiction, including the three novellas that became the basis for the hugely successful 1994 Brad Pitt movie. Harrison’s most recent book of fiction was published this month; a book of poetry came out earlier this year. A noted gourmand and connoisseur of life, Harrison once wrote of his epic eating, hunting, drinking, and writing that: “The idea is to eat well and not die from it, for the simple reason that that would be the end of your eating.”