NEW YORK, June 24: Best-selling American novelist Leon Uris, best known for “Exodus” about the creation of Israel and “Trinity” on the conflict in Ireland, has died in New York, his ex-wife, Jill Uris, said on Tuesday. He was 78.

She said by telephone from Aspen, Colorado, that the novelist died on Saturday at his home on New York’s Shelter Island after suffering from various ailments.

Jill Uris said the author had lived on the small island off Long Island since 1989 and that a new book, “O’Hara’s Choice” — a historical fiction about the US Marine Corps — was scheduled to be published by HarperCollins in October.

Uris’ novels reflected his experiences as a Marine in World War II and as a war correspondent. His first novel, “Battle Cry,” was published in 1953 when he was 29 years old.—Reuters