The US writer Cormac McCarthy, author of bestsellers such as “The Road” or “No Country for Old Men”, is dead. McCarthy was “one” on Tuesday at the age of 89 in his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico died of natural causes,” his agent told the German Press Agency in New York. The button publishers and John McCarthy, the writer’s son, also confirmed McCarthy’s death.

Writer Stephen King expressed his sadness via short message service Twitter and described McCarthy as “perhaps the greatest American writer of my time”.

The author is one of the most successful and important authors of his generation in the USA and has received numerous awards, including the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.

McCarthy was born in Rhode Island in 1933 and grew up as the son of a lawyer with five siblings in Tennessee. He published around a dozen novels, many of which were also made into films by Hollywood. The film adaptation of the drama “No Country for Old Men”, which won four Oscars in 2008, made him world famous.

After his world bestseller “Die Straße” in 2006, McCarthy, who only very rarely appeared in public or gave interviews, did not publish a new novel for around 16 years – but he did publish two last year: “The Passenger” and “Stella Maris”.