David Oliver Relin, a journalist and adventurer who achieved acclaim as co-author of the best seller “Three Cups of Tea” (2006) and then suffered emotionally and financially as basic facts in the book were called into question, died Nov. 15 in Multnomah County, Ore. He was 49. 
 
 His family said Mr. Relin “suffered from depression” and took his own life. The family, speaking through Mr. Relin’s agent, Jin Auh, was unwilling to give further details, but said a police statement would be released this week. 
 
 In the 1990s, Mr. Relin established himself as a journalist with an interest in telling “humanitarian” stories about people in need in articles about child soldiers and about his travels in Vietnam. 
 
 “He felt his causes passionately,” said Lee Kravitz, the former editor of Parade who hired Mr. Relin at various magazines over the years. “He especially cared about young people. I always assigned him to stories that would inspire people to take action to improve their lives.” 
 
 So it made sense when Viking books tapped him to write a book about Greg Mortenson, a mountain climber who had an inspiring story about building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. 
 
 Elizabeth Kaplan, the agent for the book, acknowledged that the relationship between the two men was difficult from the start. Mr. Mortenson, who was traveling to remote areas, could be hard to track down, and Mr. Relin spoke publicly about how Mr. Mortenson should not have been named a co-author. Still, the book was a huge success, selling more than four million copies. 
 
 Some readers, however, found details of the heartwarming tale suspicious. In 2011, the CBS News program “60 Minutes” and the best-selling author Jon Krakauer in an e-book called “Three Cups of Deceit” questioned major points in the book. This included a crucial opening anecdote about Mr. Mortenson’s being rescued by the townspeople of Korphe, Pakistan, after stumbling down a mountain when he was dehydrated and exhausted. It was their care and concern, the book said, that inspired Mr. Mortenson to build schools. 
 
 The reports also said some of the schools that Mr. Mortenson’s charity, the Central Asia Institute, said it had established either did not exist or were built by others. There were also charges that the institute had been mismanaging funds and that a substantial portion of the money it raised had been used to promote the book, not for schools. 
 
 Mr. Mortenson acknowledged that some of the details in the book were wrong. Mr. Relin did not speak publicly about the charges, but he hired a lawyer to defend himself in a federal lawsuit that accused the authors and the publisher of defrauding readers. The suit was dismissed this year. 
 
 In April, the Montana Attorney General’s office announced that Mr. Mortenson had agreed to repay the charity more than $1 million in travel and other expenses used to promote the book, including “inappropriate personal charges.” 
 
 David Oliver Relin was born on Dec. 12, 1962, in Rochester to Lloyd and Marjorie Relin. His father died when he was young. Mr. Relin graduated from Vassar College in 1985, and was later awarded a fellowship at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. 
 
 In addition to his mother, he is survived by his wife, Dawn; his stepfather, Cary Ratcliff; and his sisters Rachel Relin and Jennifer Cherelin. 
 
 Mr. Relin had completed a new book on two doctors working to cure cataract-related blindness in the developing world. It is scheduled for publication by Random House in spring 2013. ||||| David Oliver Relin's family said that Relin was hurt, emotionally and financially, by the controversy over fabrications in 'Three Cups of Tea,' the book he co-authored with Greg Mortenson. 
 
 This is Lizard Squad, the nebulous hacker group now tied to the Sony hack 
 
 David Oliver Relin recently finished a book – scheduled for publication this spring – about two doctors who are working to cure cataract-related blindness in the developing world. 
 
 More sad news to report on “Three Cups of Tea": David Oliver Relin, the journalist and author who became famous as the co-author, with Greg Mortenson, of “Three Cups of Tea,” died Nov. 15 near Portland, Oregon of an apparent suicide. He was 49. 
 
 Relin’s family said the author suffered from depression and was hurt, emotionally and financially, when controversy arose over fabrications in “Three Cups of Tea,” which recounted how former mountain climber Mortenson started building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan through his charity. 
 
 The book’s accuracy was called into question last year when a "60 Minutes program" reported on its numerous fabrications as well as financial discrepancies in Mortenson’s charity, both of which were detailed by author Jon Krakauer in his book, “Three Cups of Deceit.” 
 
 Mortenson denied wrongdoing, though he acknowledged that some of the events in the book were compressed for storytelling purposes. Relin did not respond publicly to criticism, though he did hire a lawyer to defend himself in a federal lawsuit that accused the authors and publisher of defrauding readers. The suit was dismissed earlier this year. 
 
 Ironically, the very assignment that shot Relin to fame – “Three Cups of Tea” would go on to sell 4 million copies and draw widespread support for Mortenson’s Central Asia Institute – also brought him much grief and may have led to his eventual downfall. 
 
 From the start, Relin spoke publicly about how Mortenson, who was often unreachable traveling in remote areas, should not have been named a co-author. Elizabeth Kaplan, the agent for the book, told the New York Times that the relationship between the co-authors was difficult from the start. 
 
 The legal, emotional, and financial difficulties that followed allegations of fabrications further damaged Relin, who already suffered from depression. 
 
 Relin had established himself in the 1990s as a journalist specializing in humanitarian stories about people in need. It appeared he had tried to move on from the “Three Cups” controversy; Relin had completed a new book on two doctors who are working to cure cataract-related blindness in the developing world, scheduled for publication by Random House in spring 2013. 
 
 He is survived by his wife, Dawn; his stepfather Cary Ratcliff; and his sisters Rachel Relin and Jennifer Cherelin. 
 
 Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent.
– Looks like David Oliver Relin's grief over Three Cups of Tea may have led to his suicide. Relin, who co-authored the book, was suffering from depression and experienced financial and emotional strain over allegations that the book contained lies, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Relin didn't deny the accusations publicly, but did hire a lawyer to defend against a lawsuit that claimed Relin and co-author Greg Mortenson had defrauded readers. A judge threw out the lawsuit last year. But Relin and Mortenson always had a strained relationship, and Relin never thought Mortenson deserved co-author credit, reports the New York Times. Last year, reports emerged that the authors had fabricated elements of the book, like an opening anecdote about Mortenson being rescued by villagers in Pakistan. Despite all this, NPR reports that Relin has a new book coming out next year: Second Suns, Two Doctors and Their Amazing Quest to Restore Sight and Save Lives, about doctors who perform cataract surgery in Third World countries.