The Horse Whisperer author Nicholas Evans dies, aged 72

Author Nicholas Evans, who wrote The Horse Whisperer, has died following a heart attack at the age of 72, United Agents has said.

A statement from United Agents said the novelist, screenwriter and journalist died on Tuesday August 9 following a heart attack.

A statement said: "United Agents are very sad to announce the sudden death of the celebrated best-selling author Nicholas Evans who died suddenly on Tuesday...following a heart attack, aged 72."

Born in 1950 in Worcestershire, Evans was educated at Bromsgrove School before reading law at Oxford.

During the 1970s he worked as a journalist on the Evening Chronicle in Newcastle-upon-Tyne before moving into broadcasting.

He specialised in US politics and foreign affairs, including covering the war in Beirut, before publishing his debut novel, The Horse Whisperer, in 1995.