and the Largest failed Manhunt in U.S. History. She dedicated the book to her late husband, Tim Russert, and their son Luke, as well as Orth's mother. In the book, Orth claimed, among other things, that Gianni Versace had AIDS and that his deteriorating health was kept a secret to avoid putting a public listing of his company at risk. In October 2016, reports began circulating that FX would be developing a television miniseries based on Orth's book as part of the American Crime Story franchise. In January 2018, FX debuted a nine-episode miniseries, "American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace" starring Darren Criss, Édgar Ramírez, Penélope Cruz and Ricky Martin. Orth was a creative consultant on the series. The Versace family was unhappy with how Gianni Versace was portrayed in both the book and the television show, stating that it presented a distorted and fictionalized account of the designer's life. At the time of the television show's premier, the publisher of the book vigorously defended Orth's reporting saying:"First published almost 19 years ago, Vulgar Favors is a carefully reported and extensively-sourced work of investigative journalism by an award-winning journalist with impeccable credentials. The book has stood the test of time and is widely regarded as the definitive account of Andrew Cunanan's chilling crime spree. Random House stands by the book and its author, Maureen Orth."At the 2018 Emmy Awards, the series, based on Orth's reporting, won seven Emmy Awards including Outstanding Limited Series, Outstanding Casting, and Outstanding Contemporary Costumes. Orth appeared onstage with the cast and producers to accept the award. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association honored the program with four Golden Globe nominations and two wins for Best Limited Series and Darren Criss won for Best Actor in a limited series. Family and personal life Orth lives in Washington, D.C. In 1983, she married the political journalist Tim Russert, whom she met at the 1980 Democratic National Convention. Russert was the Washington bureau chief of NBC News and moderator of Meet the Press when he died on June 13, 2008. Their son, Luke Russert, who was born in August 1985, is a former NBC News correspondent. Orth is the dedicatee of her friend Larry McMurtry's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Lonesome Dove. She has served on the Executive Board of the College of Letters and Sciences, University of California, Berkeley and been a Trustee of the University of California,