CBC News Online reports:

NEW YORK - Pierre Salinger, who worked as President John F. Kennedy’s press secretary has died, ABC news reported Saturday.

Salinger, 79, died from a heart attack in France, said the U.S. network

He was 35 years old when he served Kennedy. He left the White House in 1964 and eventually became a California senator before returning to a career in journalism.

In 1977 he became ABC television’s Paris bureau chief after working many years as a print journalist.

In 1997, he suggested that TWA Flight 800, on its way to Paris, was shot down by a U.S. Navy missile. Official records show that the plane was destroyed by a center fuel tank explosion.

Salinger was the author of several books including, With Kennedy; America Held Hostage: The Secret Negotiations; Secret Dossier: The Hidden Agenda Behind the Gulf War and P.S. A Memoir.

Last Updated Sat, 16 Oct 2004 23:06:40 EDT