Collins, John Lawrence, Jr. 1929-2005
COLLINS, John Lawrence, Jr. 1929-2005
(Larry Collins)
OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born September 14, 1929, in West Hartford, CT; died of a cerebral hemorrhage June 20, 2005, in Frejus, France. Journalist and author. Collins was a journalist turned bestselling author who was best known for his collaborations with Dominique Lapierre, including the blockbuster nonfiction work Is Paris Burning? (1965). After graduating from Yale University with a B.A. in economics in 1951, he served in the U.S. Army in France. While at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe near Paris, he met Lapierre and the two became friends. Collins remained in France when he left the service in 1955, joining United Press International as a correspondent and then spending time in Rome as a news editor and the Middle East as a correspondent. While still in the Middle East, he was hired by Newsweek magazine as an editor, and from 1961 to 1964 he returned to Paris to serve as bureau chief there. With the tremendous success of Is Paris Burning?, which was also adapted as a movie, Collins was able to quit journalism to dedicate himself full time to writing. Often collaborating with Lapierre, he became known for extremely well-researched nonfiction, as well as for writing novels that included realistic detail and a breathless pace that made readers feel as if they were experiencing the alternative histories and intense scenarios of terrorism the author concocted. Among his works written with Lapierre are O Jerusalem! (1972), The Fifth Horseman (1980), Mountbatten and the Partition of India (1982), Le Jour du Miracle: D Day Paris (1994), Tomorrow Belongs to Us (1998), and Is New York Burning? (2004). Collins's solo efforts include Fall from Grace (1985), Maze (1989), and Road to Armageddon (2003).
OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:
PERIODICALS
Chicago Tribune, June 21, 2005, section 2, p. 11.
Los Angeles Times, June 21, 2005, p. B11.
New York Times, June 21, 2005, p. A21.
Times (London, England), June 23, 2005, p. 67.
Washington Post, June 22, 2005, p. B6.