( CNN ) -- Author Joe McGinniss , who chronicled the murder case of former Green Beret doctor Jeffrey MacDonald in the 1983 book `` Fatal Vision , '' has died , his lawyer said Monday . He was 71 . McGinniss died Monday afternoon at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester , Massachusetts , said friend and attorney Dennis Holahan . He had been battling prostate cancer for two years . He also wrote the 1969 bestseller `` The Selling of the President 1968 , '' a close look at the marketing and campaigning of presidential candidate Richard Nixon . McGinniss had fly-on-the-wall access for Nixon 's victorious run . Nixon had learned his lesson from his 1960 loss to John F. Kennedy . In '68 , he put together a team of advisers to mold his television image , including 1960s TV hit `` Laugh-In '' head writer Paul Keyes , former CBS executive Frank Shakespeare , ad man Harry Treleaven and a producer named Roger Ailes , who had been working for former big-band singer Mike Douglas ' daytime talk-variety show . ( Ailes is now head of Fox News Channel . ) Together , Nixon 's team played to the candidate 's strengths and minimized his weaknesses ( `` Avoid closeups , '' wrote Treleaven in one memo ) . Today , the book 's details may seem old hat -- but still make for revealing reading . In 2012 , McGinniss , critcized by MacDonald supporters who said he betrayed the doctor , told CNN that he embedded with the defense team because he thought it would be fascinating to see how the lawyers and accused handled a high-profile murder case . MacDonald was convicted of stabbing his pregnant wife and two young daughters to death at their home on a North Carolina military base . `` I learned everything from the first time in court . I did n't have my mind made up , '' McGinniss said . MacDonald has steadfastly maintained his innocence . McGinniss also made news when he moved next door to Alaska Gov . Sarah Palin in 2010 and wrote `` The Rogue . '' Palin theatened to sue , saying the book was `` a series of lies and rumors presented as fact . '' He wrote 12 books in all , according to his website . According to publisher Simon & Schuster , McGinniss lived in Massachusetts with his wife , Nancy Doherty , an editor and writer . He had five children -- including author Joe McGinniss Jr. -- and seven grandchildren . People we 've lost in 2014 . CNN 's Janet DiGiacomo contributed to this report .
Fox News Channel wrote `` Fatal Vision , '' ` `` Laugh-In '' chronicled the murder case of Richard Nixon 's doctor Richard Nixon 's . `` Selling of the President '' charted Jeffrey MacDonald presidential run .