Writer John Nichols, author of ‘The Milagro Beanfield War’ with a social justice streak, dies at 83

By MORGAN LEE
Associated Press

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Writer John Nichols, author “The Milagro Beanfield War,” has died. He was 83. The novel he’s best known for features a traditional Latino community defending its lifeblood water supply and culture in good humor against corrupt outside interests. Daughter Tania Harris says Nichols died Monday at home in Taos, New Mexico, amid declining health linked to a long-term heart condition. Nichols won early recognition with the 1965 publication of his offbeat love story “The Sterile Cuckoo,” later made into a movie starring Liza Minnelli. He moved in 1969 from New York City to the mountains of northern New Mexico, where he found inspiration for “The Milagro Beanfield War.”