WSJ reporter Zaslow dies in crash

Wall Street Journal reporter Jeffrey Zaslow, who wrote some of the paper’s most memorable front-page features and became a best-selling author, died in a car crash Friday morning at age 53.

A story on the Journal website states, “Mr. Zaslow was a Journal reporter from 1983 to 1987 when his career took a remarkable turn. In 1987, Mr. Zaslow wrote a first-person front-page article on a contest to replace Ann Landers, who had just left the Chicago Sun-Times. He won the contest, which drew 12,000 applicants, and took the job for several years, until 2001.

“He later rejoined the paper. In 2005, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists named him the best columnist at a large newspaper for his Moving On column. He was awarded the same honor in 2003.

“Mr. Zaslow’s books included ‘The Last Lecture,’ written with Randy Pausch, on the final lecture of the Carnegie Mellon professor.

“In 2011, he collaborated with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, on their memoir, ‘Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope.'”

Read more here.