Novelist Evan Hunter, better known to many readers as the Ed McBain who wrote the '87th Precinct' novels, has died of cancer at the age of 78.
Hunter wrote more than 100 novels, short stories, plays and film scripts during a period of 50 years and under different names, selling more than 100 million books worldwide.
His better known works include the novel 'The Blackboard Jungle,' about an English teacher and his uncontrollable students, and the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 classic 'The Birds.'
"He had been ill for some time, he died peacefully," his agent Jane Gelfman said, adding that Hunter had suffered from cancer of the larynx.
He died on Wednesday at his home in Connecticut.
