Nicholas Evans, the best-selling English author who wrote The Horse Whisperer, has died at 72 after suffering a heart attack, his literary agency confirmed Tuesday. The journalist and screenwriter died suddenly on Tuesday. “United Agents are very sad to announce the sudden death of the celebrated best-selling author Nicholas Evans who died suddenly on Tuesday this week following a heart attack, aged 72,” the company wrote in a statement Monday. It added that the “much-loved” author had “lived a full and happy life, in his home on the banks of the River Dart in Devon.” His 1995 debut novel, The Horse Whisperer, sold a staggering 15 million copies around the world and went on to be adapted into a movie directed by and starring Robert Redford in 1998. The plot follows the story of a skilled trainer helping a severely injured teenage girl and her horse return to health. Evans wrote four more bestselling novels, most recently publishing The Brave in 2010.