Pete McCarthy, 51, author, broadcaster

LONDON -- Writer and broadcaster Pete McCarthy, author of the award-winning travel books ''McCarthy's Bar" and ''The Road to McCarthy," died of cancer at a hospital in Brighton, southern England, on Oct. 6, said his publishers, Hodder & Stoughton. He was 51.

Born in Warrington, northwest England, to an English father and an Irish mother, Mr. McCarthy explored his roots during childhood vacations in Ireland and developed a yen to write when he was a boy after reading James Joyce's ''A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man."

He was in his 40s before he achieved his wish with ''McCarthy's Bar," published in 1999, which sold more than a million copies and garnered several writing awards.

While a student, Mr. McCarthy had traveled widely and spent a year after leaving college hitchhiking around Canada, the United States, and Mexico.