American writer famous for writing Dispatches dies aged 76

12:41 - 27 June 2016

Michael Herr

Michael Herr, the American writer and war correspondent famous for writing Dispatches, has died aged 76.

Michael Herr, the American writer and war correspondent famous for writing Dispatches, has died aged 76. Guardian UK reported.

His death in New York was confirmed by publisher Alfred A Knopf, which released 1977's Dispatches.

Born in 1940, Herr was one of the most respected writers of New Journalism, the novelistic reportage pioneered by the likes of Tom Wolfe and Truman Capote, where the journalist is as much part of the story as their subject. He practised this most famously in his book Dispatches, about his time working as a war correspondent for Esquire magazine in Vietnam between 1967 to 1969. Guardian UK reported.

Though Herr himself didn’t care for fame all that much, Dispatches was a hit and New York Times critic John Leonard wrote on its release: "Dispatches is beyond politics, beyond rhetoric, beyond 'pacification' and body counts and the 'psychotic vaudeville' of Saigon press briefings.."

Author Salman Rushdie – a friend of Herr’s – told the Guardian: “He wrote the greatest book about Vietnam, Dispatches; not to mention the brilliant screenplay of Full Metal Jacket and the vital voice over narration of Apocalypse Now. He was also a sweet, kind, funny, generous friend and this news is very sad indeed.”