Category : ObituariesPublished on: December 07 2022
Share on facebook
An author whose most celebrated book gave Kolkata its most cliched name is no more.
French writer Dominique Lapierre, bestselling author of the ode to Kolkata, 'City of Joy', who also collaborated with American Larry Collins to write six books that sold more than 50 million copies in over 30 languages, has died.
The 1985 book, which interplays the stories of a rickshaw-puller and an American doctor in search of enlightenment, was turned into a film — starring Patrick Swayze and Om Puri — in 1992 by Roland Joffe.
Lapierre, who spoke Bengali fluently and was conferred the Padma Bhushan in 2008, founded the City of Joy Foundation to rescue children suffering from leprosy from the slums of Kolkata.
Set up in 1981, it was supported by the royalties from his many literary successes.
