Best-selling author and reporter Joe McGinniss died on Monday of complications related to prostate cancer.
According to CNN, his attorney and longtime friend Dennis Holahan made the announcement and said that McGinniss died at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Mass.
The Associated Press noted that he had been battling the cancer for two years and remained optimistic till the end, posting regular updates on Facebook and Twitter about everything from foreign policy to his health.
The author first came to prominence in 1969 with The Selling of the President 1968, which described the marketing and campaigning of former presidential candidate Richard Nixon.
He authored 11 other works including the 1983 account of the Jeffrey MacDonald murder case, in the best-selling book Fatal Vision.
McGinniss started out as a reporter for the Worcester Telegram and later became a sportswriter for The Philadelphia Bulletin. He also worked as a general interest columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer before leaving to write books full-time.