British writer Nicholas Evans, author of the best-selling film adaptation of
The Man Who Whispered in the Ear of Horses
, has died of a heart attack at the age of 72, his agent announced on Monday.
His death took place on August 9 but was not made public until almost a week later in a statement: "
United Agents is very sad to announce the passing of celebrated author Nicholas Evans who died suddenly on Tuesday, at following a heart attack
.
Born in central England in 1950, he studied law in Oxford before becoming a journalist, for the local press and then television.
He is best known for his hugely successful first novel,
The
Horse
Whisperer
, published in 1995 and selling fifteen million copies worldwide.
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The novel tells the story of a young girl seriously injured in a riding accident, during which her best friend is killed and her animal mutilated.
To cure her, her mother decides on a last-ditch expedition to Montana, where the "
whisperer
" Tom Booker lives, who has a reputation for caring for the most difficult horses.
The book has been adapted for the cinema by Robert Redford, at the same time the director, the actor and the producer of this hymn to the great outdoors, to virgin nature and to horses.
Released in 1998, the film with Scarlett Johansson and Kristin Scott Thomas, was nominated for the Oscars, without winning any prizes.
