R.I.P. David Halberstam

This is really too bad...

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author David Halberstam was killed in a three-car accident this morning in Menlo Park near the Dumbarton Bridge, the San Mateo County Coroner's Office announced. Halberstam, author of 15 bestsellers, died at the scene after the car in which he was a front-seat passenger was broadsided by another vehicle. The coroner's office said he died of massive internal injuries.

Mr. Halberstam may be best known for the fascinating study of the Vietnam War The Best and the Brightest, and was a fantastic writer who was interested in a wide variety of topics. This was a guy who lived life and lived the life of the mind.

• Here's Halberstam and Neil Sheehan on C-Span's American Writers series.
• Here Halberstam on Booknotes talking about his book The Fifties (the first book of his that I read).
• How Do You Get Readers Interested in a Story?
• Tips on Book Writing
• A Trivialization of Agenda
• Newseum: Respect for the Average Officer in Vietnam
• New York Times profile, 4/24/07