Ugly American portrayed American representatives losing the battle for hearts and minds to the Soviet Union in the fictional Asian kingdom of Sarkhan. (The book's depictions created controversy: President Dwight Eisenhower called the book "sickening," claiming that it distorted the truth.) He also advocated nuclear disarmament. He was scheduled to speak in defense of the administration at the Berkeley Teach-in in May 1965 before withdrawing at the last minute, alleging that those attending weren't interested in a dialogue. Death Burdick died in 1965 of a heart attack, while playing tennis, in San Diego, California, at the age of 46. After his death, it was reported that he was a diabetic who struggled with chronic heart disease. He had also had a prior heart attack in 1959. He was survived by his wife Carol and three children. Works The Ninth Wave, 1956 (winner, Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship) The Ugly American, 1958, with William Lederer The Blue of Capricorn, 1961 Fail-Safe, 1962, with Harvey Wheeler The 480, 1965 Nina's Book, 1965 Sarkhan: A Novel, 1966, with William Lederer Republished under the title The Deceptive American in 1977. References External links The Strange Obscurity of Eugene Burdick by Mark Pack 1918 births 1965 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford American futurologists American male novelists American Rhodes Scholars Novelists from Iowa People from Sheldon, Iowa Stanford University alumni United States Navy officers United States Navy personnel of World War II Writers from Los Angeles Military personnel from Iowa