Who was Dominique Lapierre, author of 'City of Joy', dies at 91

Dominique Lapierre, born on July 30, 1931, in Chatelaillon, has sold around 50 million copies of the six books he wrote with American writer Larry Collins, the most notable being 'Is Paris Burning?'

A French author with a passion for India whose novels sold tens of millions of copies, Dominique Lapierre, has died, announced his wife. "He died of old age at the age of 91," Dominique Conchon-Lapierre told the French newspaper Var-Matin on Sunday. She added that she is 'at peace and serene now that Dominique is no longer suffering.'

Lapierre, born on July 30, 1931, in Chatelaillon, has sold around 50 million copies of the six books he wrote with American writer Larry Collins, the most notable being 'Is Paris Burning?'

The non-fiction book, published in 1965, detailed the events leading up to August 1944, when Nazi Germany surrendered control of Paris, and was adapted for the silver screen by Francis Ford Coppola and Gore Vidal.

His 1985 novel 'City of Joy,' depicting the trials and tribulations of a rickshaw puller in Kolkata, was also a huge success. It was adapted into a film starring Patrick Swayze and directed by Roland Joffe in 1992.

Most of Lapierre's royalties from 'City of Joy' were donated to charitable projects in India.

In 2005, he said that it had become 'possible to heal a million tuberculosis patients in 24 years (and) to care for 9,000 children with leprosy' thanks in part to this move and donations from readers.

Following 'Is Paris Burning?' he resumed his great collaboration with Collins. 'Or I'll Dress You in Mourning' (1968), 'The Fifth Horseman' (1980), 'O Jerusalem' (1972), 'Freedom at Midnight' (1975), and the thriller 'Is New York Burning?' were all written by the duo.

Lapierre lived near  Collins in Saint-Tropez for a long time, their residence separated by a tennis court.