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HAGERSTOWN, Md., May 8, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Mystery novelist and former Food and Drug Administration speechwriter Herbert Burkholz has died of lung cancer in Maryland at age 73.
Burkholz died April 30 at Washington Country Hospital, the Washington Post reported Monday.
Among his slate of successful mystery novels were 1969's "Sister Bear," 1985's "The Snow Gods" and a series that included "The Sensitives" in 1987, "Strange Bedfellows" in 1988 and "Brain Damage" in 1992, the Post said.
One of his non-fiction books, 1994's "The FDA Follies," led to a stint as speechwriter for FDA Commissioner David A. Kessler.
He also wrote a series of spy thrillers with Clifford Irving, who became a household name in 1971 for his fake autobiography of Howard Hughes that earned him 17 months in prison.
The Post said Burkholz was disappointed critics were more interested in reviving the Irving scandal than taking a serious look at their three collaborations -- "The Death Freak," "The Serious Spy" and "Spy: The Story of Modern Espionage."
Burkholz also wrote articles for a number of magazines and an FDA paper he wrote about the positive properties of thalidomide was widely picked up, the newspaper said.
His survivors include two sons and a granddaughter.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
