Love Story book's author Erich Segal died

American writer Erich Segal, 72, who captivated millions with his novel 'Love Story', has died at his London home on Sunday. The cause was a heart attack, his daughter Francesca said. Segal had been ill with Parkinson's disease for 25 years. Segal was a classics professor at Yale University when he first wrote story about a wealthy Harvard student Oliver, who angers his father by marrying Jennifer, a woman from a poor background but their love story takes a tragic turn when Jennifer dies of cancer.
The book, which coined the phrase 'Love means never having to say you're sorry', became a staggering commercial success and was made into a 1970 hit film. The novel, which Segal first envisioned as a film, turned into a major motion picture phenomenon with the same name, starting Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw. Segal went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for the screenplay of the 1970 adaptation of his bestselling tome. The film, which kickstarted the careers of O'Neal and Tommy Lee Jones, was a global hit, and picked up seven nominations at the 1971 Oscars, winning one for the Best Music.