Post by tdallasw on Sept 26, 2003 13:22:54 GMT -5
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Best-selling American author George Plimpton, who wrote about sports from a participant's point of view and edited the Paris Review literary journal, died in his sleep at his New York apartment, his lawyer said on Friday. He was 76.
Plimpton's death was unexpected as he had not been ill, said his lawyer James Goodale.
"Last night, the 50th anniversary issue (of the Paris Review) was put to bed with him at the helm," said Goodale.
"He had had some heart problems, but he seemed to be in very good health and we are all surprised by his death," Goodale said.
Educated at Exeter, Harvard and Cambridge, Plimpton was at home in literary circles, high society and sports arenas alike, writing for magazines and acting in movies.
Plimpton was best known for writing about professional sports by taking part in the activities as an amateur.
In his first exploit, in 1959, he boxed three rounds with light-heavyweight champion Archie Moore. Plimpton wrote in Sports Illustrated about his experiences, many of them becoming books like "Out of My League" (1961), about baseball, "Paper Lion" (1966), about playing football with the Detroit Lions and "The Bogey Man" (1968), about professional golf.
Ernest Hemingway called "Out of My League," "beautifully observed and incredibly conceived."
"There are people who would perhaps call me a dilettante, because it looks as though I'm having too much fun. I have never been convinced there's anything inherently wrong in having fun," Plimpton once said.
Plimpton, born in New York in 1927, is survived by his wife Sarah Dudley Plimpton and four children from two marriages.
Plimpton's death was unexpected as he had not been ill, said his lawyer James Goodale.
"Last night, the 50th anniversary issue (of the Paris Review) was put to bed with him at the helm," said Goodale.
"He had had some heart problems, but he seemed to be in very good health and we are all surprised by his death," Goodale said.
Educated at Exeter, Harvard and Cambridge, Plimpton was at home in literary circles, high society and sports arenas alike, writing for magazines and acting in movies.
Plimpton was best known for writing about professional sports by taking part in the activities as an amateur.
In his first exploit, in 1959, he boxed three rounds with light-heavyweight champion Archie Moore. Plimpton wrote in Sports Illustrated about his experiences, many of them becoming books like "Out of My League" (1961), about baseball, "Paper Lion" (1966), about playing football with the Detroit Lions and "The Bogey Man" (1968), about professional golf.
Ernest Hemingway called "Out of My League," "beautifully observed and incredibly conceived."
"There are people who would perhaps call me a dilettante, because it looks as though I'm having too much fun. I have never been convinced there's anything inherently wrong in having fun," Plimpton once said.
Plimpton, born in New York in 1927, is survived by his wife Sarah Dudley Plimpton and four children from two marriages.