Romance novelist Krantz dies

Los Angeles

Writer Judith Krantz, whose million-selling novels such as "Scruples" and "Princess Daisy" engrossed readers worldwide with their steamy tales of the rich and beautiful, died Saturday at her Bel-Air home. She was 91.

Krantz's son Tony Krantz, a TV executive, confirmed her death by natural causes on Sunday afternoon.

"She had this rare combination of commercial and creative," he said.

Krantz wrote for Cosmopolitan and Ladies Home Journal magazines before discovering, at age 50, the talent for fiction that made her rich and famous like the characters she created.

Her first novel — "Scruples" in 1978 — became a best-seller, as did the nine that followed. Krantz's books have been translated into 52 languages and sold more than 85 million copies worldwide. They inspired a series of hit miniseries with the help of her husband, film and television producer Steve Krantz.

While her work was decidedly less than highbrow, Krantz made no apologies for the steamy novels with titles like "Princess Daisy," "Mistral's Daughter," "Lovers," "I'll Take Manhattan" and "The Jewels of Tessa Kent."

"I write the best books I know how," she once said. "I can't write any better than this."

She filled her stories with delicious details about her characters' lavish lifestyles — designer clothes, luxurious estates — and enviable romances. And she spared no specifics when it came to sex.

"If you're going to write a good erotic scene, you have to go into details," Krantz told the Los Angeles Times in 1990. "I don't believe in thunder and lightning and fireworks exploding. I think people want to know what's happening."

The eldest of three children, Krantz was born Judith Bluma Tarcher in 1928 in New York City. Her father owned an advertising agency and her mother worked as an...