Author and satirist O’Rourke dies at 74

P.J. O’Rourke died Tuesday morning in Sharon, N.H., from lung cancer complications. He is survived by his second wife, Tina, and three children.

What was his career like? The Toledo, Ohio, native started his career in the early 1970s as a reporter for underground publications such as the New York Ace and then became editor-in-chief of National Lampoon. O’Rourke made a name for himself satirizing war and unrest all over the world, as well as “boring” political conventions. The commentator was known for lambasting both parties and any current administration, expressing disdain for government in general. He wrote more than 20 books, including two New York Times bestsellers. Although he normally aligned with conservative Republicans, O’Rourke endorsed Hillary Clinton during her presidential campaign in 2016 because at least “she’s wrong within normal parameters.” Before he died, O’Rourke was a research fellow at the Cato Institute and a regular panelist on the NPR quiz show Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me. “Most people pretend to be nice in public,” tweeted NPR host Peter Sagal, “but P.J. was kind in private and pretended to be a curmudgeon for public consumption.”