P.J. O'Rourke, an influential baby boomer satirist and commentator who defied the counterculture's leftward politics, died Tuesday morning. He was 74.
Deb Seager, vice president and spokeswoman at his publisher, Grove Atlantic, confirmed O'Rourke's passing in a statement.
"Our dear friend and cherished Grove Atlantic author P. J. O'Rourke passed away this morning from complications of lung cancer," she said.
She noted his accomplishments: "A journalist and political satirist, O'Rourke wrote over twenty books on subjects as diverse as politics, cars, etiquette, and economics, including his two #1 New York Times Bestsellers, 'Parliament of Whores' and 'Give War a Chance.'"
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He became known for his work as editor-in-chief of the National Lampoon in the 1970s.
He later moved on to Rolling Stone and the Atlantic Monthly before contributing to the pages of Automobile Magazine, Esquire, Vanity Fair, Car and Driver, The Daily Beast and The Weekly Standard.
He was also a longtime guest on MSNBC.
In his later years, he was the H. L. Mencken Research Fellow at the Cato Institute and a regular panelist on NPR's "Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me."
Survivors include his wife Tina O'Rourke and three children.