Writer Robin Moore dies at 82

Author penned 'The French Connection'

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

Robin Moore, a nonfiction author best known for writing "The French Connection" and "The Green Berets," died in Kentucky Feb. 21 after a long illness. He was 82.

Born Robert L. Moore Jr. in Massachusetts, he wrote several books under the name Robin Moore.

"The French Connection," published in 1969, was about a New York drug bust. It inspired a movie that won five Academy Awards in 1971, including best picture.

"The Green Berets," published in 1965, was made into a movie starring John Wayne in 1968. Moore also co-wrote "The Ballad of the Green Berets," which became the signature song of the Special Forces unit.

Moore spent time in Vietnam with the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) to write the book, and his connection with the Green Berets endured after the book was written. In 2005 he and his wife, Helen, moved to Hopkinsville, which borders Fort Campbell, the sprawling Army post that is headquarters to a Green Beret group.

Maj. Gen. Gary L. Harrell, deputy commander of the Army's Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, called Moore a "devoted advocate" for the Special Forces and said his writings became textbooks for the Army's unconventional forces.

Moore's other books included "The Happy Hooker," which he helped write and was published in 1972.

In 1986, Moore pleaded guilty to selling fraudulent literary tax shelters. The government charged Moore published books and sold the royalty rights to promoters and investors at inflated prices based upon arbitrary and unrealistic values.

-- Associated Press