His memoir about his cousin's death in Vietnam, "Remains: Non-Viewable", was highly acclaimed by many writers including Elmore Leonard.
In 2018 he was honored with the prestigious Kieser Award for lifetime achievement in film and television from Humanitas Prize.
Attended Princeton University, where he played freshman football, hockey and lacrosse.
Earned seven Emmy nominations and won two Writers Guild Awards and two Humanitas Prizes.
His final book, "Pieces of Tinsel", about his time in Hollywood, is set to be published in 2022.
Mentored a number of acclaimed screenwriters including John Wells, Carol Flint, Lydia Woodward, Paris Qualles and Ann Donahue.
His 1982 novel "The Weather Tomorrow" and 2016 memoir "Pieces of Glass - An Artoir" received critical praise.
Was a visiting professor at Princeton and Claremont McKenna College and lectured at USC, UC Santa Barbara and the Lyndon Johnson and Bill Clinton presidential libraries.
Grew up in Montclair, New Jersey.
Youngest of four siblings.
His senior thesis at Princeton became his first novel, it was about two women working on the 1968 presidential campaign.
He served on the boards of the Firestone Library at Princeton, the Humanitas Prize, the Burchfield Penney Art Center and the Writers Guild Foundation.