Someone asked about the death of George V Higgins. Here's an
obituary I found:
MILTON, Mass. (AP) - George V. Higgins, the
prosecutor-turned-novelist who put Boston organized crime
figures in both prison and fiction, including his best seller
``The Friends of Eddie Coyle,'' has died at the age of
59.
Higgins was found Saturday at his home, and apparently died
of natural causes, police Sgt. Jack Richman said
Sunday.
Higgins published about 25 books. And ``Eddie Coyle,'' which
was published in 1972, was made into a movie directed by
Peter Yates and starring Robert Mitchum and Peter
Boyle.
His fictional characters were inspired by the underworld
figures he rubbed elbows with while prosecuting organized
crime cases, and he was praised for using authentic Boston
speech and settings in ``Eddie Coyle,'' which told the story
of a small-time mobster.
Higgins started out in journalism, working as a reporter for
the Providence Journal and for The Associated Press in
western Massachusetts, before attending law school.
He took a job as a legal assistant at the Massachusetts
attorney general's office in 1967 and quickly worked his way
up to assistant attorney general. He became an assistant U.S.
attorney in 1970.
By 1970, he had written as many as 14 novels, all of them
unpublished, said a friend, Boston University professor Jon
Klarfeld.
Father Francis W. Sweeney, Higgins' former literature
professor at Boston College, said he urged the aspiring
writer to keep at it.
``I said, 'George, don't give up. You have it, and there will
be a time when we hold your first book in our hands,''
Sweeney said.
In 1972, ``Eddie Coyle'' was an instant best seller.
Higgins also won recognition for several subsequent books,
including ``The Digger's Game,'' ``Cogan's Trade,'' and ``A
City on a Hill.''
In addition to penning about a book a year, he wrote columns
for The Boston Herald American, The Boston Globe, and The
Wall Street Journal from 1977 to 1985.
Later works fell short of those early successes. His last
novel, ``The Agent,'' was published this year.
He is survived by his wife, Loretta, and a son and a
daughter.
AP-NY-11-07-99 1304EST Tom Goodell --- Bozeman, Montana
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