Eric Wright Dies: Author Of ‘Generation Kill’, Adapted Into HBO Miniseries, Was 59

Evan Wright,  a writer and journalist whose 2004 book on the Iraq War, Generation Kill, was adapted into an HBO miniseries, died July 12 in Los Angeles by suicide, his family confirmed. 

Born in Ohio, Wright earned a degree from Vassar College before entering journalism. In the mid-‘90s, Wright worked for Hustler, serving as entertainment editor and reviewer. He later wrote for Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone, developing a knack for immersion journalism, spending long periods with people or a subculture to gather information.

Wright covered Neo-Nazis, organized crime figures, and others, but his best-known work came as a result of his military reporting. Embedded with the U.S. Marines during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, his accounts of the war for Rolling Stone earned Wright a National Magazine Award for Reporting.

It also led to his book, Generation Kill, a chronicle of a small group of soldiers’ experience in the invasion. The book was adapted into an HBO miniseries written by David Simon and Ed Burns, creators of The Wire, and was nominated for seven Emmys, winning three. 

Wright’s other work included Hella Nation, which explored many subcultures throughout the United States, and American Desperado, written about drug smuggler Jon Roberts and adapted into the documentary Cocaine Cowboys.

His honor included the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, two National Magazine Awards, the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize from the Columbia University School of Journalism, and the General Wallace M. Greene, Jr. Award, among others. 

Wright was a showrunner on the 2016 mini-series, Harley and the Davidsons, about the motorcycle company. His television credits also include Homeland, Homecoming, The Bridge, The Man in the High Castle, and Dirty John.

In a post on social media last week, Wright said he began working on a book in 1982 about his childhood in a government-run youth rehabilitation center. That led to him being featured in Teen Torture Inc., a three-part docuseries on HBO Max about such institutions, released the day before his death.

Survivors include his wife, Kelli Wright, and three children, Carter, Evan, and Kennedy, a sister, Nora, and a brother, Walter.