Dominique Lapierre, the bestselling author of The City of Joy and co-author of Is Paris Burning?, has died at 91, Agence France-Presse reports.

Lapierre, a native of Châtelaillon-Plage, France, spent time in New Orleans as a teenager, and was educated at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. He served in the French army, where he befriended an American soldier named Larry Collins.

Lapierre and Collins both shared an interest in writing, and they collaborated on a series of books, including Is Paris Burning?, a nonfiction account of the Allies’ liberation of Paris during World War II. The book, published in 1965, was adapted into a film the following year by French director René Clément. It starred Jean-Paul Belmondo, Orson Welles, and Kirk Douglas.

In 1985, Lapierre published the novel The City of Joy, about an American doctor in Kolkata, India. A bestseller, it was adapted into a 1992 movie with a cast led by Patrick Swayze. Lapierre donated much of the money he received from the book to schools and hospitals in Kolkata.

His recent books include Five Past Midnight in Bhopal, co-written with Javier Moro, and A Rainbow in the Night, translated by Kathryn Spink.

Admirers of Lapierre paid tribute to him on social media. On Twitter, Emmanuel Lenain, France’s ambassador to India, wrote, “Deeply saddened by the demise of eminent French writer Dominique Lapierre, who was conferred India’s Padma Bhushan for his tireless work for the underprivileged. His vision of Kolkata as ‘The City of Joy’ will remain etched forever in our hearts.”

And politician Sanjay Kumar Jha tweeted, “His pen was power. He ruled hearts of millions, touched the chord of struggling lots through his epic works like Freedom at Midnight, City of Joy & Is Paris Burning…May his soul rest in peace. Om Shanti.”

Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.