Aaron Latham, screenwriter, journalist and husband of CBS News anchor Leslie Steele, has died at age 78.

Aaron Latham, journalist, screenwriter and husband of CBS News veteran Leslie Stahl, who wrote articles that became the basis of John Travolta’s films. urban cowboy s Perfect, died. He was 78 years old.

Latham died Saturday at Bryn Mawr Hospital in Pennsylvania after a battle with Parkinson’s disease, his wife said. the hollywood reporter. His health deteriorated after he was diagnosed with COVID-19 in 2020, he added.

A native Texan who married Stahl in 1977, Latham worked Washington post, Wear, The New York Times newspaper s Rolling Stonealong with other publications throughout his career.

urban cowboy (1980) came from Latham’s Wear A play that revolved around a romance between a mechanical bull rider and a woman at Gilley’s, a nightclub in Houston. The real-life couple became Travolta’s Bud and Debra Winger’s Sissy at the box office.

Latham’s Stories Rolling Stone The youth, singles and health clubs were redesigned. Perfect (1985), starring Travolta as a reporter and Jamie Lee Curtis as a fitness instructor.

He worked on the scripts for both films with director James Bridges.

Latham also wrote director David S. with Ward Program (1993), a college football drama starring James Caan, and wrote the book for the 2003 Broadway musical version. urban cowboy.

Aaron Latham was born on October 3, 1943, in Spur, Texas, near Lubbock. His father was a high school football coach and his mother taught elementary school.

Every time his father had a winning season, “we moved to a bigger place,” he said. Texas Monthly in 2000. “I lived in Spur, Munday, De Leon, Abilene. I was a football player until I got injured my freshman year. I ended up at the bottom of the pile in practice and my left kidney was injured. However, off the pitch I always liked English.”

At Amherst, he edited the university’s journal before graduating in 1966 and earning a Ph.D. in Princeton.

In August 1973, Latham was doing a report on Watergate when he contacted Stahl and later sought out a CBS cover story. “How dare you call me at home?” she remembers him saying it in a 1977 profile of the couple. people magazine. “If you want to talk, call me at the office tomorrow,” he yelled, then hung up the phone.

They arranged to meet the next day, but in the meantime he decided to “turn on the television to see what this person is like.” She did and said she was “terrified. I thought, ‘She’s so beautiful.’ My heart stopped, my mouth went dry and I said, “What have I gotten myself into?”

Latham’s first novel, orchids for momIn 1977, Roman Cliff was published about the CIA and his early relationship with Stahl. They were married in February of the same year.

It also contained his other books. crazy week: f. Scott Fitzgerald in Hollywood; Frozen Leopard: In Search of My Dark Heart in Africa; The Ballad of Gussie and Clyde: A True True Love Story; code west; s Tiffany Gun Cowboy.

Stahl said that amid the bidding for the film rights urban cowboyLatham was also under contract to work on the script.

In an interview in September 2018 brain and lifeShe said Latham was diagnosed with Parkinson’s after confusing symptoms, such as slow walking, prompted the couple to seek medical attention. (Sahl said. THR He had this disease for about 15 years.)

Although he faced an uphill battle with degenerative disease, he continued to write and tackle new creative endeavors such as directing plays.

He found relief and a new physical challenge through Rock Steady, a boxing program designed for people with Parkinson’s disease (Stahl did a segment on him 60 minutes).

Although Latham also had success with a surgical procedure called deep brain stimulation that helped reduce tremors and stiffness, her condition worsened after she was diagnosed with COVID-19.

“We got it [COVID] Together from the beginning,” said Stal, 80. THR last week. “It really slowed the course of his illness. Parkinson’s disease is a progressive degenerative disorder and has had a very slow and gradual but not bad tendency to decline. But when he contracted COVID, he just fell off the cliff. “

They are survived by their daughter, Taylor; son-in-law André; and grandchildren Jordan and Chloe.

The couple enjoyed their roles as parents and grandparents, Stahl said. guide posts:: “Aaron, who was raised as a Methodist, always says that there is a world plan, there is a higher order. Grandchildren come and send you in directions you never dreamed you would go. You will discover a new purpose, a new calling. “