Obituary: John Nichols, writer

Actor Christopher Walken (right) with actor, director and producer Robert Redford on the set of...
Actor Christopher Walken (right) with actor, director and producer Robert Redford on the set of his movie The Milagro Beanfield War based on the novel by John Nichols. Photo: Getty Images
The bard of New Mexico, John Nichols put his distant backyard before the eyes of the world’s readers.

His best-known work, 1974’s The Milagro Beanfield War, was an unlikely bestseller, being the story of a fictional Hispanic community’s defiance when big business came to town, but its good humour and deft characterisation found it an audience: it was later made into a film by Robert Redford.

The Californian-born Nichols was educated in New York and parlayed his private school experience into his early novel The Sterile Cuckoo.

After a stint in Guatemala, Nichols moved to Taos, New Mexico, in 1969, and it was home for the rest of his life.

Nichols produced more than 20 books from his base, a mix of fiction and non-fiction, most centred on his home state.

Nichols died on November 27, aged 83. 

- Agencies