William Diehl was an American novelist and photojournalist

Photojournalism

Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism that creates images in order to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images, but in some cases the term also refers to video used in broadcast journalism...

.

He had two childern, a boy and a girl from whom he was estranged.

Diehl was fifty years old and already a successful photographer and journalist when he decided to begin a writing career. His first novel, Sharky's Machine, which became a movie by the same name was directed by and starred Burt Reynolds

Burt Reynolds

Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...

. Diehl saw the movie shot on location in and around his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. Its cast included Vittorio Gassman

Vittorio Gassman

Vittorio Gassman Knight Grand Cross OMRI , popularly known as Il Mattatore, was an Italian theatre and film actor and director...

, Brian Keith

Brian Keith

Brian Keith was an American film, television, and stage actor who in his four decade-long career gained recognition for his work in movies such as the 1961 Disney family film The Parent Trap, the 1966 comedy The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, and the 1975 adventure saga The Wind and...

, Charles Durning

Charles Durning

Charles Durning is an American actor. With appearances in over 100 films, Durning's memorable roles include police officers in the Oscar-winning The Sting and crime drama Dog Day Afternoon , along with the comedies Tootsie, To Be Or Not To Be and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the last two...

, Earl Holliman

Earl Holliman

-Early life:Earl Holliman was born at Delhi in Richland Parish of northeastern Louisiana. Holliman’s biological father died before he was born, and his biological mother, living in poverty with several other children, gave him up for adoption at birth...

, Rachel Ward

Rachel Ward

Rachel Claire Ward, AM is a British actress, columnist, film director, and screenwriter who has primarily pursued her career in Australia.-Early life:...

, Bernie Casey

Bernie Casey

Bernard Terry "Bernie" Casey is a professional actor who initially had a career as an interscholastic, intercollegiate and professional football player. Casey was also a record-breaking track and field athlete for Bowling Green State University...

, Henry Silva, and Richard Libertini

Richard Libertini

Richard Libertini is an American stage, film and television actor known for playing numerous character roles and his ability to speak in numerous accents....

. It has been the most successful box-office release of a film directed by Reynolds.

Following the success of Sharky's Machine, Diehl relocated to St. Simons Island, GA in the early 80's where he lived for the next 15 years before going back to the Atlanta area. While living on St. Simons, he completed eight more novels, including Primal Fear

Primal Fear (novel)

Primal Fear is the 1993 thriller novel by William Diehl about Aaron Stampler, an altar boy accused of murder and Martin Vail, the attorney defending him. It was adapted into a film of the same name in 1996, starring Richard Gere and Edward Norton....

, which also became a movie by the same name

Primal Fear (film)

Primal Fear is a 1996 American crime drama thriller film directed by Gregory Hoblit and starring Richard Gere and Edward Norton. The film tells the story of a defense attorney, Martin Vail , who defends an altar boy, Aaron Stampler , charged with the murder of a Catholic archbishop. The movie is an...

 starring Richard Gere

Richard Gere

Richard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...

 and Edward Norton

Edward Norton

Edward Harrison Norton is an American actor, screenwriter, film director and producer. In 1996, his supporting role in the courtroom drama Primal Fear garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor...

. Diehl died at Emory University

Emory University

Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...

 Hospital in Atlanta on November 24, 2006, of an aortic aneurism. He was a resident of Woodstock, Georgia

Woodstock, Georgia

Woodstock is a city in Cherokee County, Georgia, United States. The population was 23,896 at the 2010 census.Originally a stop on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Woodstock is now considered part of the Atlanta metropolitan area...

at the time of his death and was working on his tenth novel.