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Former Chronicle space writer James Schefter dies

James Schefter, a prolific space and automotive writer, died of complications associated with pulmonary fibrosis Sunday night. He was 60.

Schefter covered the end of NASA Gemini Missions for the Houston Chronicle in the early 1960s and wrote about the Apollo Space Missions for Time and Life magazines. He began writing for Popular Science magazine in the early 1970s and was a consulting editor for almost a decade.

Schefter also wrote extensively about the automotive and computer industries as a freelance writer. He is the author of The Race: The Uncensored Story of How America Beat Russia To The Moon and All Corvettes Are Red: Inside the Rebirth Of An American Legend.

He also worked with Chris Kraft, flight director of the Apollo Mission, on Flight -- a book about the space missions that will be published in March 2001.

Schefter is survived by three sons, Michael Schefter,William Schefter and Andrew Schefter.