Pasadena Author Greg Critser Dies At 63

PASADENA, CA -- Greg Critser, a Pasadena-based author of books on science and health issues and educator died Saturday night, a family spokesperson said Sunday. He was 63.

Crister had written books exploring the link between large American companies and obesity, such as the practice of fast food corporations to increase portion sizes in the American diet.

His 2003 book, "Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World," was called "the definitive journalistic account of the modern obesity epidemic" by the American Diabetes Association.

Critser's other books included "Generation Rx: How Prescription Drugs Are Altering American Minds, Lives and Bodies" in 2005, "Eternity Soup: Inside the Quest to End Aging" in 2010 and "California," a National Geographic travel guide in 2000.

Family friends say he was also a prolific freelancer for the Los Angeles Times, the New Ork Times, Pasadena Weekly, and Buzz, Worth" and Harper's magazines.

He recently taught science writing at Caltech and USC.

Critser was born in Steubenville, Ohio, in 1954. He received a bachelor's degree in history from Occidental College in Los Angeles in 1980 and a master's degree in history from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1982.

He is survived by his wife, Antoinette Mongelli, of Pasadena; mother Betty Critser Newman and stepfather Jerry Newman, of Rancho Mirage and other family members.

A memorial service will be held at Occidental College at a later date, a family friend said.

--City News Service/Patch file photo