Joe McGinniss, the author of "Fatal Vision," "Final Vision" and a 2011 Sarah Palin biography, announced that he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer last May.
"I was diagnosed in May with advanced, metastatic prostate cancer," he wrote Wednesday on his Facebook [5] page. "There is no cure, so sooner or later it's terminal."
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Despite the bad news, the 70-year-old says he feels "terrific" and doesn't plan on letting the disease prevent him from writing more material or living life to the fullest.
"I feel terrific. Eager to tackle another book and I've got a few ideas for magazine stories as well," his message continued. "A diagnosis of cancer, even terminal cancer, does not have to interfere with daily life."
McGinniss has published 12 books over the course of his 40-year career, three of which have been adapted into television movies. "Fatal Vision," one his most popular true-crime books, explored the real-life story of U.S. Army Captain Jeffrey MacDonald, M.D., who was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and two young daughters in 1979.
The 1983 best-seller became an NBC miniseries in 1984 and was a source of controversy that same year. MacDonald sued McGinniss because he believed the author had only pretended to believe in his innocence to ensure cooperation so he could continue writing the book, which ultimately concluded MacDonald to be guilty. After a hung jury, the matter was settled out of court for $325,000.
Most recently, McGinniss profiled Sarah Palin in "The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin," which portrayed the former GOP vice presidential candidate in a less than positive manner. After renting a house neighboring Palin's Alaskan home to carry out his research, he emerged with claims of infidelity within her marriage to Todd Palin, a "fetish" for black men and drug use. She wasn't pleased.
McGinniss says his health is in good hands at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, where he has been receiving hormonal injections to treat his condition.
"I'm blessed to be entirely free of symptoms," he added. "And thanks to the exercise
and diet in better shape otherwise than I've been in for at least twenty years."