LaHaye dies at 90 after stroke
The Rev. Tim LaHaye, co-author of the “Left Behind” series, a multimillion-selling literary juggernaut that brought end-times prophecy into mainstream bookstores, died Monday. He was 90.
LaHaye died in a San Diego, Calif., hospital, days after having suffered a stroke, according to his publicist Johnnie Moore.
Co-authored with Jerry B. Jenkins, the 16-volume “Left Behind” series of novels published by Tyndale House Publishers sold more than 80 million copies worldwide, Moore said, and popularized a Bible interpretation that said born-again Christians will be instantly taken to God in the Rapture, while those left behind on earth endure seven years of tribulation.
LaHaye was a key figure in conservative political groups, encouraging the Rev. Jerry Falwell to create Moral Majority; forming the Council for National Policy, a secretive strategy group for prominent political and religious conservatives; and, along with his wife, Beverly, starting Concerned Women for America in 1979, as an alternative to liberal feminist organizations.
In 1987, LaHaye resigned as a co-chairman of Jack Kemp’s Republican presidential campaign after news reports cited his criticisms of Roman Catholicism and Judaism.
LaHaye is survived by his wife, four children and nine grandchildren, among other relatives. No funeral plans were announced.
