Sol Yurick, a author  of  the 1965 novel “The Warriors,” recast an ancient Greek battle as a tale of warring New York street gangs and earned a cult following in print, on film and eventually in a video game, died on Saturday in Manhattan.

His daughter, Susanna Yurick, says Sol Yurick died of complications from lung cancer early Saturday at Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan,New York Times said

Yurick, who worked for the New York Department of Welfare before finding success as an author, drew from his real-life experiences when he found himself inspired to write.

Working for the welfare department was enough to give him material for many books, but he condensed his experiences into a novel, “The Warriors”, and later touched on the vast differences between the impoverished people he came into contact with every day and those he’d grown up with.

Yurick’s other works included the novels “Fertig,” ”An Island Death” and “The Bag,” a story of race and class in New York that was his favourite.

By UP