Obituary

Jack Klein, freelance writer, dies at age 49

Mr. Klein made his living as a writer, including a stint writing columns for the St. Petersburg Times.

RIVERVIEW - More than 20 years ago, Jack Klein began writing his novel. He worked on it little by little in his spare time, polishing and revising. He gave finished chapters to literary-minded friends and then revised some more.

"He always said the most important thing was finishing it," said Karen Klein, his wife. Early last week, Mr. Klein completed his work, titled His Father's Son. He placed copies on his desk, along with envelopes and addresses of publishers and agents.

They were there Friday when he died in his sleep at age 49.

Mr. Klein had been in generally good health, although he had high blood pressure . The cause of his death won't be known until an autopsy report is completed.

Mr. Klein's literary career began in earnest at the University of South Florida in the 1970s. He studied creative writing and wrote a column for The Oracle, the USF student newspaper.

"People would get upset with him because they wouldn't recognize that he was writing satire," said his mother, Dee Parry of Land O'Lakes.

At USF Mr. Klein wrote the short story that he later expanded into a novel, a coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of the deterioration of small-town America. It started as a class assignment, but became his life's work.

"I thought he was a wonderful writer," said Robert Friedman, the St. Petersburg Times' deputy editor of editorials and a longtime friend of Mr. Klein. "When he was writing his column at USF, he really had that Hunter Thompson-Tom Wolfe thing going on. My friend Malcolm Jones (the book editor at Newsweek) was really blown away by some of his fiction."

Mr. Klein made his living as a freelance writer, including a stint when he wrote columns for the Times.

More recently, he produced a trade publication about the construction industry.

In addition to his wife and mother, Mr. Klein is survived by his father, Jacob, of Mundelein, Ill.; two brothers, Robert of Arba, Italy, and William of Encinitas, Calif.; a sister, Pamela Klein-Kurland of Highland Park, Ill.; and three nephews and a niece.

A memorial service is planned for 3 p.m. today at Tampa Unity, 3302 W Horatio St., in Tampa.

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