‘Love Story’ Author Dies

Erich Segal, the American author of the best-selling romance novel, Love Story, died in England on Sunday. After suffering from Parkinson’s Disease for many years, he succumbed after a massive heart attack. He was 72.

Love Story, which the New York-born Segal wrote while he was a classics professor at Yale University was published in 1970, and become an instant worldwide top-seller. It was later turned into an Oscar-winning film, starring Ryan O’Neal, and Ali McGraw.
The movie spawned a cultural phenomenon as it was one of the few books to succesfully discuss love, death and bereavement, and the theme continues to be relevant in books today. Its most famous line, "Love means never having to say you're sorry," entered popular-culture and continues to be used.

After the publication of his novel, Segal continued teaching, becoming a professor at both Harvard and Princeton, as well as serving as a screen writer for the Beatles’ 1968 film, Yellow Submarine. He also continued to write novels and screenplays mainly about ancient Greek and Latin literature, but he did eventually write the sequel to Love Story, called Oliver’s Story.

His last major work, was written in 2001, a scholarly look at the history of comedy, and of dirty jokes, from the ancient Greeks through to Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove.

Segal was buried at a Jewish cemetery in London on Tuesday. He is survived by his wife Karen and daughters Miranda and Francesca.