Author reporter Joe McGinniss dies   

Joe McGinniss

Author reporter Joe McGinniss,  who skewered the marketing of Richard Nixon in "The Selling of the President 1968" and tracked his personal journey from sympathizer to scourge of convicted killer Jeffrey MacDonald in the blockbuster "Fatal Vision," died Monday at age 71 from inoperable prostate cancer in Worcester, Massachusetts. 

McGinniss moved next door to Sarah Palin's house for a most unauthorized biography of the former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate, "The Rogue." 

McGinniss was a columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer in 1968 when he was allowed access to the Nixon campaign. In 1979 he was a columnist for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner when he investigated and wrote about former Green Beret MacDonald.

The tall, talkative McGinniss had early dreams of becoming a sports reporter and wrote books about soccer, horse racing and travel. 

To read the entire article in today's BJ, click on http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ohio/obituary.aspx?n=joe-mcginniss&pid=170113432&eid=sp_shareobit