'Salmon Fishing in Yemen' Scribe Paul Torday Dies at 67

The New York Times reports that British author Paul Torday, whose debut novel, "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen," became a feature length film, died on Wednesday at his home in Northumberland, England at the age of 67. The news was announced by his publisher, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. The cause of death was not revealed.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen was the winner of the 2007 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic writing and was serialized on BBC Radio 4. It won the Waverton Good Read Award in 2008. It was made into a popular movie in 2011, starring Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt.

Born in 1946 and educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle and Pembroke College, Oxford, Torday turned to fiction writing only later in life, and his first novel was published at the age of 59. Prior to that he was a successful businessman living in Northumberland. The inspiration for the novel stemmed from Torday's interest in both fly fishing and the Middle East.

From these two strands, he weaves a political satire that centres around the world of political spin management.
His second novel is entitled The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce (titled Bordeaux in the United States) and is about a man who drinks himself to death.

In 2008 he was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Galaxy British Book Awards.
Torday's third book The Girl on the Landing was published in 2009. This novel deals principally with the themes of schizophrenia and racism.