'Legends of the Fall' author Jim Harrison passes away

One of the great writers in contemporary American fiction, Jim Harrison, died at age 78 at his home in Patagonia, Arizona.

Spokeswoman Deb Seager of Grove Atlantic, Harrison's publisher, told that he died on March 26, but the cause is still unknown, reports Daily Mail.

Harrison's wife of more than 50 years, Linda King Harrison, died last fall.

The author of the novella 'Legends of the Fall,' made a prolific career with his descriptions of outdoor life, often through the lens of history, and was unconcerned by the limits of genre.

Harrison spent much of his time in a rural cabin near his Michigan hometown and often found himself compared to Ernest Hemingway, who also hailed from the midwest and cultivated a reputation for seeking adventure.

Harrison was not fond of the comparison, writing once that Hemingway seemed to him "a woodstove that didn't give off much heat.