Author Paul Torday passed away at the age of 67 on Wednesday surrounded by his family in Northumberland. No cause of death was given, but he was diagnosed with cancer six years ago.
Torday is most known for his 2007 book Salmon Fishing in The Yemen, which was popular enough to be adapted into a 2011 movie starring Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt, The Express reports.
Salmon Fishing was his first novel and managed to sell over 500,000 copies worldwide.
Mark Stanton, his agent, said of Torday: "He was a writer of rare talent, and a true gentleman. Paul, I raise a glass of the finest Bordeaux to you."
The Associated Press reports that Torday managed to write six more novels and two eBooks before his passing.
He didn't publish his first book until his late fifties, instead he ended up in a career in engineering, despite graduating with an English literature degree.
Weidenfeld and Nicolson Ficton's Kristy Dunseath said in a statement, "He was a gentle observer of the foibles of human nature and our social behavior."
image: Amazon