Obit

Dominick Dunne, 1925-2009

Bestselling author covered crime.

Dominick Dunne, the bestselling author who wrote about crime, died Wednesday at the age of 83. Dunne famously covered the trials of O.J. Simpson, the Menendez brothers, and Phil Spector for Vanity Fair. In March 1984, he first wrote for the magazine, about the trial of the man who murdered his daughter, Dominique. He started his career as a stage manager of The Howdy Doody Show, and, before turning to writing, he produced movies like The Boys in the Band and Play It as It Lays. His brother, John Gregory, was married to Joan Didion. A collection of Dunne’s writing for Vanity Fair, Justice, was published in 2001, and his last book, Too Much Money: A Novel, will be published in December.