William Diehl

William Diehl was an American photojournalist and a bestselling author of photojournalism, mystery and thriller novels. William was 50 years old and an already successful photojournalist when he began his writing career. His debut novel was Sharky’s Machine. The book was adapted into a 1981 thriller drama movie by same name directed by Burt Reynolds shot on his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. Following the positive acclaim and the success of his first novel, Diehl moved to St. Simon’s Island in the early 80’s where he resided for the next one and half decade before relocating to Atlanta area. While at St. Simons, Diehl wrote eight novels, such as Primal Fear- which was adapted into a film by the same title (Primal Fear) featuring Edward Norton and Richard Gere. The author died at Emory University Hospital on November 24th, 2006 and at the time of death, he was a resident of Woodstock, Georgia working on his 10th novel.