Ira Levin Dead at 78

The New York Times is reporting that author Ira Levin has died of apparently natural causes at the age of 78:

Ira Levin, a mild-mannered playwright and novelist who liked nothing better than to give people the creeps -- and who did so repeatedly, with best-selling novels like “Rosemary's Baby,” “The Stepford Wives” and “The Boys From Brazil” -- died on Monday at his home in Manhattan. He was 78.

No specific cause of death had been determined, but Mr. Levin appeared to have died of natural causes, his son Nicholas said yesterday.

Rosemary's Baby and The Stepford Wives are two of my favorite horror novels. Deathtrap was good too. He will be missed.

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I am not a fan of horror novels so Levin is not in my pantheon, but I have always wondered what it means to die of 'natural causes', and why does that form of death seem to befall only the elderly?

I liked the movie version of Boys from Brazil. Never read the book, though.

I saw William Shatner (believe it or not!) in Deathrap in 1980. It was a great play, and actually Shatner was at his best on stage. I also enjoyed the movie of Boys from Brazil, though I've never read Levin's novels.

"I liked the movie version of Boys from Brazil. Never read the book, though."

Same here; pretty scary!