{{Short description|American author and journalist (1941–2026)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2014}} {{Infobox person | name = Philip Caputo | image = Caputo.Phil_7947.jpg | caption = Caputo in 2016 | image_size = 230px | birth_name = Philip Joseph Caputo | birth_date = {{birth date|1941|6|10}} | birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2026|5|7|1941|6|10}} | death_place = Norwalk, Connecticut, U.S. | known_for = ''A Rumor of War'' (1977) | education = Loyola University Chicago (BA) | occupation = {{hlist|Author|journalist}} | website = {{URL|philipcaputo.com}} | spouse = {{ubl|Jill Ongemach|Marcelle Basse|{{marriage|Leslie Ware|1988}}}} | children = 2 }}
'''Philip Joseph Caputo'''<ref name="nyt" /> (June 10, 1941 – May 7, 2026) was an American author and journalist.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-06-10 |title=Happy Birthday To Norwalk's Philip Caputo |url=https://dailyvoice.com/connecticut/norwalk/neighbors/happy-birthday-to-norwalks-philip-caputo/452666/ |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=Norwalk Daily Voice |language=en}}</ref> He was best known for ''A Rumor of War'' (1977), a best-selling memoir of his experiences during the Vietnam War. Caputo wrote 19 books, including three memoirs, five books of general nonfiction, nine novels, and two books of short stories. His latest was a collection of short stories ''Wandering Souls: And Other Stories'' which was published in 2025 by Arcade Publishing.
==Early life and career== Philip Caputo was born in Chicago and raised in suburban Berwyn and Westchester.<ref name="nyt" /> He attended Fenwick High School and Loyola University Chicago, graduating with a B.A. in English in 1964. From 1965 to 1966 Caputo served in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) as an infantry lieutenant (platoon commander) in the United States Marine Corps. Caputo served in combat and earned several medals and awards upon completion of his tour of duty.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Caputo |first=Philip |title=A rumor of war |date=August 2017 |publisher=Picador |isbn=978-1-250-11712-0 |oclc=957021208}}</ref>
After serving three years in the Corps, Caputo began a career in journalism, joining the staff of the ''Chicago Tribune'' in 1968. In 1973, Caputo was part of a writing team that won the Pulitzer Prize for reporting on election fraud in Chicago. For the next five years, he was a foreign correspondent for the ''Tribune.'' He covered the fall of Saigon in 1975, and he worked in Italy, the Soviet Union and the Middle East.<ref name="philipcaputo1">{{cite web|url=http://www.philipcaputo.com/about/|title=About Phil|work=Philip Caputo|date=October 9, 2012 }}</ref> In 1975, he was shot and wounded in the ankle by a militiaman with an AK-47 during the Battle of the Hotels in Lebanon.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/to-save-lives-shrink-gun-magazines/2013/01/15/2636c1c2-5b7b-11e2-9fa9-5fbdc9530eb9_story.html|title=To save lives, shrink gun magazines|newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://middleeast.about.com/b/2011/06/26/beiruts-st-georges-hotel-still-trying-to-slay-dragons.htm|title=Middle East: Beirut's St. Georges Hotel, Still Trying to Slay Dragons|author=Pierre Tristam|work=About.com|date=26 June 2011|access-date=January 16, 2013|archive-date=December 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213183015/http://middleeast.about.com/b/2011/06/26/beiruts-st-georges-hotel-still-trying-to-slay-dragons.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Personal life and death== Caputo's first two marriages, to Jill Ongemach and Marcelle Basse, ended in divorce.<ref name = nyt/> He had two sons from his first marriage.<ref name = nyt/> In 1988, he married ''Consumer Reports'' editor Leslie Ware. Caputo died from cancer at his home in Norwalk, Connecticut, on May 7, 2026, at the age of 84.<ref name=nyt>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/08/books/philip-caputo-dead.html|newspaper=The New York Times|title=Philip Caputo, Who Wrote Blistering Vietnam War Memoir, Dies at 84|last = Berger|first = Joseph|date=8 May 2026}}</ref>
==Books and articles== Caputo's memoir of Vietnam, ''A Rumor of War'' (1977), has been published in 15 languages, and has sold two million copies since its first publication. It is widely regarded as a classic in the literature of war. The book was adapted as a 1980 two-part TV movie of the same name, starring Brad Davis, Keith Carradine, Brian Dennehy, and Michael O'Keefe. A Fortieth Anniversary Edition of ''A Rumor of War'' was published in summer 2017.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.philipcaputo.com/books-all/a-rumor-of-war/|title=A Rumor of War - Philip Caputo|newspaper=Philip Caputo|language=en-US|access-date=2017-01-14}}</ref>
''Memory and Desire'' (2023), Caputo's 18th book, is a novel set in south Florida about love and the persistence of love, about desire and desire remembered, and the reunion of a fifty-year-old man with a son he fathered out of wedlock in his youth.<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://www.patagoniapubliclibrary.org/event/meet-the-author-phillip-caputo/|title=Meet the Author}}</ref>
''Wandering Souls: And Other Stories'' (2025), Caputo's final book, is a collection of short stories that explore war, love, nature, life, and death.<ref>{{cite news |title=Wandering Souls |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781648211584 |access-date=11 May 2026 |work=Publishers Weekly |date=16 October 2025}}</ref>
In addition to books, Caputo published dozens of major magazine articles, reviews, and op-ed pieces in publications ranging from ''The New York Times'', ''The Boston Globe'', and ''The Washington Post'' to ''Esquire'', ''National Geographic'', and the ''Virginia Quarterly Review''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.philipcaputo.com/articles/|title=Selected Articles|work=Philip Caputo|date=October 9, 2012 }}</ref>
==Lecturing and television== Caputo lectured at approximately 20 universities and prep schools around the country, and was a featured speaker for the National Book Committee, the American Library Association, and the American Publishers Association. He has participated in the Key West Literary Seminar, Tennessee Williams Literary Festival, Chicago Humanities Festival, and the Cheltenham Literary Festival in Cheltenham, England.<ref>{{cite web|title=Philip Caputo|website=Key West Literary Seminar|access-date=18 May 2026|url=https://keywestliteraryseminar.org/lit/past/anovel/caputo.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260518010824/https://keywestliteraryseminar.org/lit/past/anovel/caputo.htm|archive-date=18 May 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://tennesseewilliams.net/a-timeline-of-festival-highlights/|website=Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival|title=A Timeline of Festival Highlights|access-date=18 May 2026|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260518011310/https://tennesseewilliams.net/a-timeline-of-festival-highlights/|archive-date=18 May 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Fall programs explore theme of peace, war|date=21 August 2006|website=KSL|archive-date=18 May 2026|url=https://www.ksl.com/article/437244|access-date=18 May 2026|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260518011648/https://www.ksl.com/article/437244}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://lithub.com/the-dirty-secret-of-war-it-can-be-as-compelling-as-it-is-ugly/|last=Caputo|first=Philip|title=The Dirty Secret of War: It Can Be As Compelling As It Is Ugly|website=Literary Hub|date=20 October 2017|access-date=18 May 2026|archive-date=18 May 2026|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260518012050/https://lithub.com/the-dirty-secret-of-war-it-can-be-as-compelling-as-it-is-ugly/}}</ref>
He also worked as a screenwriter for Paramount Pictures and Michael Douglas Productions. Caputo was a guest on the ''Charlie Rose Show'' and the ''Today Show.'' He narrated or appeared in several TV documentaries on the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and other subjects.<ref name="philipcaputo1"/>
==Bibliography== {{refimprove section|date=May 2026}} {{Incomplete list|date=May 2020}}
===Fiction=== * {{cite book <!--|author=Caputo, Philip --> |title=Horn of Africa |year=1980 <!--isbn=-->}} * ''Delcorso's Gallery'' (1983) * ''Indian Country'' (1987) * ''Equation for Evil'' (1996) * ''Exiles'' (1997) * ''The Voyage'' (1999) * ''Acts of Faith'' (2005) {{ISBN|0375411666}} * ''Crossers'' (2009) * ''Some Rise by Sin'' (2017) {{ISBN|978-1627794749}} * ''Hunter's Moon'' (2019) {{ISBN|9781627794763}} * ''Memory and Desire'' (2023) {{ISBN|9781956763812}} * ''Wandering Souls: And Other Stories'' (2025) {{ISBN|978-1-64821-158-4}}
===Nonfiction=== * ''Ghosts of Tsavo'' (2002) {{ISBN|0792241002}} * ''In the Shadows of the Morning'' (2002) {{ISBN|1585745200}} * ''13 Seconds: A Look Back At the Kent State Shootings'' (2005) {{ISBN|1596090804}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Caputo |first=Philip |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YJvuAAAAMAAJ |title=13 Seconds: A Look Back at the Kent State Shootings |date=2005 |publisher=Chamberlain Bros. |isbn=978-1-59609-080-4 |language=en}}</ref> * ''Ten Thousand Days of Thunder'' (2005) {{ISBN|0689862318}} * {{cite journal <!--|author=Caputo, Philip |author-mask=1 -->|date=December 2009 |title=The border of madness |journal=The Atlantic |volume=304 |issue=5 |pages=62–69 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/12/the-fall-of-mexico/307760/ <!--accessdate=2020-05-13-->}}<ref>Online version is titled "The fall of Mexico".</ref> ;Memoir * ''A Rumor of War'' (1977) {{ISBN|003017631X}} {{OCLC|2974701}} * ''Means of Escape<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.philipcaputo.com/books-all/|title=All Books|work=Philip Caputo|date=September 7, 2016 }}</ref>'' (1991) {{ISBN|0060183128}} {{OCLC|23732376}} * ''The Longest Road'' (2013) {{ISBN|978-1250048745}}
==Filmography== *''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081443/ A Rumor of War: Miniseries]'' *''The Vietnam War''
==References== {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
==External links== * {{official|https://www.PhilipCaputo.com}} *{{IMDb name|id=0135782|name=Philip Caputo}} * {{C-SPAN|1014418}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20121026003815/http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/861 Interview of Philip Caputo] by Charlie Rose (2005) * [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/books/review/Vollmann-t.html?ref=books Review] of ''Crossers'' by William T. Vollmann * [http://www.pritzkermilitarylibrary.org/events/2005-06-10-philipCaputo.jsp Interview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819050639/http://www.pritzkermilitarylibrary.org/events/2005-06-10-philipCaputo.jsp |date=August 19, 2007 }} on ''Acts of Faith'' at the Pritzker Military Library * [https://omeka.binghamton.edu/omeka/items/show/861 Interview with Philip Caputo] by Stephen McKiernan, Binghamton University Libraries Center for the Study of the 1960s, December 12, 2009
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Caputo, Philip}} Category:1941 births Category:2026 deaths Category:20th-century American male writers Category:20th-century American memoirists Category:20th-century American novelists Category:21st-century American male writers Category:21st-century American novelists Category:21st-century American short story writers Category:21st-century American travel writers Category:American male journalists Category:American male novelists Category:American male non-fiction writers Category:American military writers Category:Deaths from cancer in Connecticut Category:Loyola University Chicago alumni Category:Military personnel from Illinois Category:People from Berwyn, Illinois Category:People from Westchester, Illinois Category:The Atlantic (magazine) people Category:United States Marine Corps officers Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War