William Langewiesche, the journalist and author known for his reporting on a wide range of topics, has died at 70, the New York Times reports.

Langewiesche was born in Connecticut and educated at Stanford University. During college and afterwards, he worked as a pilot, having been taught to fly as a child by his father. He worked as a writer for Flying magazine but left in order to pursue his dream of writing literary nonfiction.

In 1991, he published “The World in Its Extreme,” about the Sahara Desert, in the Atlantic; he would revisit the topic in his 1996 book, Sahara Unveiled. He continued writing for the Atlantic for 15 years, after which he worked as a correspondent for Vanity Fair.

His other books include Cutting for Sign, which chronicled his journey along the U.S.–Mexico border; American Ground, an account of the cleanup and recovery efforts after the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center; The Outlaw Sea, about the oceans of the world; and The Atomic Bazaar, a look at nuclear proliferation across the globe.

Langewiesche’s admirers paid tribute to him on social media. On the platform X, journalist Armin Rosen wrote, “RIP William Langewiesche, one of the greatest writers in  English in my lifetime, one of my personal and professional role models, author [of] some of the most unforgettable and often-astonishing nonfiction ever written. I’m sorry I’ll never get to meet him and thank him.”

And reporter Emanuele Midolo posted, “William Langewiesche was my hero. The NYT called him the Steve McQueen of journalism and I can’t think of a better definition for his bold, daredevil, adventurous reporting. Read his books and articles, you won’t regret it.”

Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.