Scott Stone, author and war correspondent, died Tuesday in Hilo Hospital after a long bout with cancer. He was 73.

"I'm a mercenary with a typewriter," he told a reporter in 1970. "I write for money. ... I'll write for anybody that pays. ... I like to write books — and that's the route I've taken for the future. I think I can make a living at it and it gives me a chance to say things I want to say, through characters, that I wouldn't be able to say as a newspaperman writing straight news."

Close friend Doug Carlson said: "In the late '70s he was moved by the plight of war refugees in Cambodia so he simply picked up and went there. He interviewed refugees in the jungle and took his own photos. That book was called 'Wrapped in the Winds.' It had a motive beyond money."

Stone wore a beard and a bush jacket and projected an aura of adventure and mystery. He and Carlson were working in Navy public relations when a new chief of naval operations banned beards. Stone retired so he wouldn't have to shave his off.

His earliest books were among the first in the nation about Vietnam and they made him the best-read author in Hawai'i at the time. His first book, "The Coasts of War," was about the little-known junk fleet in Vietnam, written from his experience there on active duty as a naval reserve officer. Doctors have said his cancer may have been caused by contact with Agent Orange in Vietnam.

In all, he published 29 books, fiction and nonfiction. Before that, he worked for The Advertiser as a reporter and assistant city editor. He covered volcanic eruptions, the Antarctic and the Vietnam War.

Stone was born in Ducktown, Tenn., on Aug. 4, 1932. He served in the Korean War before attending East Tennessee State University. While in college, he edited a small newspaper to earn tuition.

Former Advertiser city editor Sanford Zalburg said of Stone: "It's a terrible loss. He was a good writer, a good reporter, just a splendid chap."

For the past 20 years, Stone made his home in Volcano on the Big Island.

He is survived by his wife, Walelu Stone; a daughter, Alison Beddow; a son, Eric Stone; two grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. A private service will be held at the East Hawai'i Veterans Cemetery in Hilo.

Reach Bob Krauss at bkrauss@honoluluadvertiser.com.