Robert James Waller, Author of 'Bridges of Madison County' Novel, Passes Away

Bestselling author Robert James Waller, has passed away at the age of 77.

Waller died early Friday at his home in Fredericksburg, Texas, losing his battle with multiple myeloma, a form of cancer, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The author is most known for his popular novel "The Bridges of Madison County," which was turned into both a film, starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood, and a Broadway musical, starring Kelli O'Hara and Steven Pasquale with a score by Jason Robert Brown.

The book tells the story of a married, lonely Italian-American woman living in 1960s in Madison County, Iowa, who has an affair with a National Geographic photographer who is visiting the county to create a photographic essay on the covered bridges in the area. The novel's success has turned the actual Madison County in Iowa a tourist destination.

Waller will be greatly missed. May he rest in piece.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride