Best Selling Author Of "The President's Plane Is Missing"

Robert J. Serling, whose book "The President's Plane Is Missing" spent 21 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, has passed away at the age of 92 in Tucson, AZ.

Serling was born Jerome Robert Serling March 28, 1918, in Cortland, NY, but switched the first and middle names as a young man, according to his daughter. She said he hated the name "Jerome".

The New York Times reports that he received a bachelor's degree in political science from Ohio's Antioch College in 1942, served in the Army Air Forces as a aircraft identification instructor in WWII, and joined U.P.I. after the war, eventually becoming the aviation editor and manager of the radio news division.

"The President's Plane Is Missing" combined Serling's interest in politics and aviation. Published in 1967, it focuses on the actions of the Vice President when Air Force One vanishes. The book was made into a TV movie in 1973.

Serling eventually left U.P.I. to become a full-time author, writing several fiction and non-fiction books including "She'll Never Get Off The Ground"; "Air Force One Is Haunted"; and the non-fiction "Howard Huges' Airline; An Informal History of TWA"; and "Legend and Legacy: the Story Of Boeing and Its People".

Serling's brother Rod Serling, who died in 1975, was the well-known host of "The Twilight Zone" and "Night Gallery".

FMI: www.librarything.com/author/serlingrobertj