Author, columnist Zaslow killed in crash

PETOSKY, Mich., Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Author Jeffrey Zaslow, who recently published a book with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., was killed in an auto accident in Michigan, his family said.

Zaslow apparently lost control of his car on a snowy road in Antrim County Friday and was struck by a semi-truck.

The Detroit Free Press said Zaslow, 53, of West Bloomfield, Mich., had been in nearby Petosky to sign copies of his Giffords book "Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope," which he wrote in conjunction with Giffords and her husband, Mike Kelley.

Zaslow, a former Chicago newspaperman and columnist for USA Today and the Wall Street Journal, also wrote "The Magic Room," which was published last month, the Los Angeles Times said. He also published a biography of airline pilot "Sully" Sullenberger.

Giffords was severely wounded in an assassination attempt in Tucson in January 2011 in which six of her staff, supporters and friends were killed.