Larry Collins

Larry Collins

Larry Collins (John Lawrence Collins Jr.) was born on September 14th, 1929. Larry passed away June 20th, 2005 at 75 years old. Larry Collins was born in West Hartford, CT, USA. Collins attended Yale University where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Larry Collins was an American bestselling author and journalist who was known for his historical fiction, often written alongside Dominique Lapierre, a French author.

In 1965, they published their first work together, titled Is Paris Burning? The work was so successful that it was made into a film in 1966 that had Alain and Kirk Douglas in the ensemble cast and was directed by René Clement.

A native of Connecticut, Larry Collins served in the Allied Headquarters in Paris following service in the American military.

Thereafter, he got into journalism and worked for United Press International with deployments in Beirut, Paris, Cairo, and Rome. He joined Newsweek in 1959 and rose through the ranks to ultimately become bureau chief in Paris.

It was while Larry Collins was in the military that he met Dominique Lapierre, and they forged a partnership that resulted in many acclaimed works. Their first novel was the 1980 publication The Fifth Horseman, which was about a terrorist threat in New York involving a nuclear bomb.

Collins was also the author of several novels that combined fiction with historical events, such as Black Eagles and Fall From Grace.

For his work, Larry Collins was feted with the 1989 Mannesman Talley Prize and the 1985 literary award at the Deauville American Film Festival. He passed on in Frejus, France, from a brain hemorrhage at the age of 75 in 2005.

Is Paris Burning? is a nonfiction account of the happenings during the liberation of Paris at the tail end of the Second World War. The authors draw from official documents, diaries and firsthand interviews toexplore the standoff between the Allied forces and the Nazi occupiers.

As Hitler ordered his men to destroy the French capital, the authors reveal the intricate web of civilian, political, and military efforts that saved Paris.

It is a work that captures the diplomacy, heroism, and suspense that saved one of the greatest cultural cities in the world.

In 1980, Larry Collins once again teamed up with Dominique Lapierre as they wrote yet another terrorist thriller, The Fifth Horseman.
Muammar Qaddafi smuggled a hydrogen bomb into New York. He has threatened to detonate the bomb unless America forces Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and acknowledge the rights of Palestinians.

It all unfolds from the perspective of different characters, including the terrorists, Israeli leaders, and American officials.

Five years later, Larry Collins published Fall from Grace, a historical work set against the backdrop of the early Cold War and World War II.

It follows the life of German-born American Paul Steiger, who rises through the ranks to become a prominent person in the American Intelligentsia.

Dealing with the treachery inherent in the world of intelligence, he also has to grapple with professional and personal conflicts that test his moral compass and his loyalties.

Larry Collins: Lists & Other Mentions

• O Jerusalem! was a New York Times: #1 Nonfiction Best Seller in 1972.
• The Fifth Horseman was a Publishers Weekly: Bestselling Novel in the United States in 1980.

Related Authors

Fans of Larry Collins also enjoy these authors:

1. John Grisham, author of the Jake Brigance Series.
2. Anthony Horowitz, author of the Susan Ryeland Series.
3. J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter Series.
4. Michael Connelly, author of the Harry Bosch Series.
5. Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher Series.

Larry Collins: F.A.Q