AceShowbiz -

Curt Gentry, co-author of 1974's bestselling book, "Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders", died of lung cancer in a hospital in San Fransisco, California on July 10. He was 83. His brother, Pat Gentry, confirmed the sad news.

Pat told The Associated Press that Curt's book "The Last Days of the Late, Great State of California", which was published in 1968, was one of his best books, "I think that was one of his strengths - he was able to write on different subjects. He wrote many books about many things."

Curt, who was born on June 13, 1931 in Lamar, Colorado, wrote "Helen Skelter" along with the prosecutor of Charles Manson's case, Vincent Bugliosi. The book won Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Fact Crime Book in 1975.

Curt wrote his last book, "J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets", in 1991. In the same year, David Jhonston wrote in The New York Times about the book, "Mr. Gentry has illuminated his unrelentingly harsh profile in vindictiveness and egocentricity with fresh details. He discloses that in the attic of the Justice Department, the F.B.I. ran a school teaching agents how to conduct break-ins. In a basement 'blue room' Hoover entertained select aides with screenings of surveillance films and pornographic movies." Curt won PEN Center West Literary Award for Non-Fiction a year after the book was released.

Curt spent 15 years to write the Hoover book. Los Angeles Times said that the book was "an absolutely fascinating study of the man who ran the Federal Bureau of Investigation for half a century." Meanwhile, The Chronicle called the book "a blockbuster."

Curt is survived by his brother. His friend of 40 years, Tony Dingman, said that there would be no memorial services for Curt. "He hated funerals, but he deserves a tribute, so we're going to do something anyway," said Tony.