The best-selling author of The Eagle Has Landed, Henry Patterson, has died at the age of 92, according to his publisher.
Patterson, who wrote under the pen name Jack Higgins, released 85 novels between 1959 and 2017, selling more than 250 million volumes in the process.
Among his many achievements was the sale of 50 million copies of his 1975 thriller The Eagle Has Landed. The story, about a Nazi attempt to capture Winston Churchill during WWII, was adapted into a film directed by John Sturges and starring Robert Duvall, Donald Sutherland, and Michael Caine the following year.
Patterson grew up in Belfast before migrating to Leeds. He was born in Newcastle upon Tyne and grew up in Newcastle upon Tyne. He began his career as a teacher before turning to writing novels in his leisure time. Sad Wind from the Sea was his first published novel, while The Midnight Bell was his most recent. Comes the Dark Stranger, Hell is Too Crowded, and To Catch a King were among his other writings.
Patterson died at his house on the Channel Island of Jersey, according to his publisher. Sarah, Ruth, Sean, and Hannah, his four children from his first marriage, as well as his wife Denise, survive him.
