Suspense author Sidney Sheldon died Tuesday afternoon at the age of 89 in Rancho Mirage, California. Sheldon was very talented and won awards in TV, movies and Broadway before becoming an author at the age of 50.

Sheldon died Tuesday afternoon of complications from pneumonia at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, said Warren Cowan, his publicist of more than 25 years. His wife Alexandra and his daughter, author Mary Sheldon, were by his side.Sheldon’s books, with titles such as “Rage of Angels”, “The Other Side of Midnight,” “Master of the Game” and “If Tomorrow Comes,” provided his greatest fame. They were cleverly plotted with a high degree of suspense and sensuality and a device to keep the reader turning pages.

Analyzing why so many women bought his books, he commented: “I like to write about women who are talented and capable, but most important, retain their femininity. Women have tremendous power — their femininity, because men can’t do without it.”

Sheldon was a skilled writer. It rained for a couple of days when I was in St. Lucia two years ago and the vacation rental was stacked with Sheldon books. I picked one up because I had heard of his name before and two days later I had finished about four of them. I look forward to reading even more of them now following his death.