Evan Wright, the author of the award-winning 2004 Iraq War book Generation Kill, has died by suicide at 59, the Washington Post reports.

Wright, a Cleveland native, had a troubled childhood, spending time at a juvenile delinquent facility. He was educated at Vassar College and later moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as a pornographic movie reviewer for the infamous adult magazine Hustler.

He then began writing for Rolling Stone, immersing himself in various subcultures for his long-form articles. In 2003, he published a series of pieces in the magazine chronicling time spent alongside U.S. Marines in Iraq; that reportage led to Generation Kill, which Putnam published in 2004.

The book won the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for current interest and was adapted for a 2008 HBO miniseries starring Alexander Skarsgård, James Ransone, and Jon Huertas.

Wright’s other books include Hella Nation, American Desperado (co-written with Jon Roberts), and How To Get Away With Murder in America.

Wright’s admirers paid tribute to him on social media. On the platform X, Rolling Stone executive editor Sean Woods wrote, “Evan was a good friend and an incredible journalist. Nobody went harder or dug deeper into a story. He was just awesomely different and generous. I'm crushed by this loss.”

And author Matt Gallagher posted, “Rest in Peace to Evan Wright, who hated the war and loved the soldier.”

Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.