John Winslow Irving (March 2, 1942) is an American-Canadian novelist and screenwriter. Irving achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of The World According to Garp in 1978. Many of Irving's novels, including The Cider House Rules (1985), A Prayer for Owen Meany (1989) and A Widow for One Year (1998), have been bestsellers. He won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in the 72nd Academy Awards (1999) for his script of The Cider House Rules. Five of his novels have been adapted into films. Irving's career began at the age of 26 with the publication of his first novel, Setting Free the Bears (1968). His second and third novels were, The Water-Method Man (1972) and The 158-Pound Marriage (1974). Mr. Irving was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2000 Less