Cormac McCarthy, author of Pulitzer Prize-winning novels No Country for Old Men and The Road, died Tuesday at 89 years old.
The acclaimed author was born in Providence, R.I., in 1933. Though his first novel The Orchard Keeper was published in 1965, McCarthy would not find mainstream success until decades later.
According to Variety, McCarthy spent much of his life living in poverty as he continued to find his voice as a storyteller.
That success came with his 1992 novel All The Pretty Horses being adapted to the big screen. The Western film starred Matt Damon and Penelope Cruz and was directed by Billy Bob Thornton.
The novel was the first part of McCarthy's Border Trilogy centered on cowboys John Grady Cole and Billy Parham, set near the U.S.-Mexico border. It was followed by The Crossing in 1994 and Cities of the Plain in 1998.In 2005 and 2006 McCarthy would see arguably his two most well-known novels be published. First was No Country for Old Men in 2005. It was adapted in 2008 by the Coen brothers and starred Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem.
Knopf publishing house released The Road in 2006. It won the Pulitzer Prize for literature in 2007 and was adapted to film in 2009. The film starred Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron and Robert Duvall.
"Cormac McCarthy, maybe the greatest American novelist of my time, has passed away at 89," Stephen King tweeted. "He was full of years and created a fine body of work, but I still mourn his passing."
