William Diehl

This article is about the author. For the mayor of Pittsburgh, see William J. Diehl.

William Diehl (December 4, 1924 – November 24, 2006) was an American novelist and photojournalist.

He had two children, a boy and a girl from whom he was estranged.

Diehl was fifty years old and already a successful photographer and journalist when he decided to begin a writing career. His first novel, Sharky's Machine, which became a movie by the same name was directed by and starred Burt Reynolds. Diehl saw the movie shot on location in and around his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. Its cast included Vittorio Gassman, Brian Keith, Charles Durning, Earl Holliman, Rachel Ward, Bernie Casey, Henry Silva, and Richard Libertini. It has been the most successful box-office release of a film directed by Reynolds.

Following the success of Sharky's Machine, Diehl relocated to St. Simons Island, GA in the early 80's where he lived for the next 15 years before going back to the Atlanta area. While living on St. Simons, he completed eight more novels, including Primal Fear, which also became a movie by the same name starring Richard Gere and Edward Norton. Diehl died at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta on November 24, 2006, of an aortic aneurism. He was a resident of Woodstock, Georgia at the time of his death and was working on his tenth novel.

Bibliography

• Sharky's Machine (1978)
• Chameleon (1981)
• Hooligans (1984)
• Thai Horse (1987)
• 27 [aka The Hunt] (1990)
• The Hunt [aka 27] (1990)
• Primal Fear (1992)†
• Show of Evil (1995)†
• Reign in Hell (1997)†
• Eureka (2002)

†Primal Fear, Show of Evil and Reign in Hell are all part of the Martin Vail series featuring the character Aaron Stampler.

References and external links

• AP via Yahoo!, 'Primal Fear' author Diehl dies at 81 , 26 November 2006
• William Diehl at Imdb links to info on films based on Diehl's novels