'Bermuda Triangle' Author Berlitz Dies
05:02 PM EST December 29, 2003
The Associated Press
TAMARAC, Fla.
Charles Berlitz, a noted linguist and author whose books, including "The Bermuda Triangle," explored the paranormal, has died at age 90.
Berlitz, whose grandfather founded the language schools that bear the family name, died Dec. 18 at University Hospital in Tamarac, relatives said.
Berlitz spoke numerous languages and worked as head of publications for the Berlitz Co. in New York, where he wrote language curriculum for schools around the world. His grandfather, Maximilian Berlitz, founded the school in 1878 in France.
Berlitz was internationally known for his 1974 best seller on the Bermuda Triangle, but he also wrote other books on paranormal phenomena, including "Without a Trace," "The Philadelphia Experiment-Project Invisibility," "The Roswell Incident" and "The Dragon's Triangle."
He was born in New York City in 1913, and spent three decades working for the Berlitz Co. as a writer, lecturer and travel expert. He developed the company's record and tape courses and worked to simplify his grandfather's teaching methods.
He also spent 26 years in the Army, serving as an intelligence officer.
Berlitz began visiting Florida during the 1970s when he was researching his books on the Bermuda Triangle and Atlantis. In the early 1980s, he and his wife moved to Fort Lauderdale.
Besides his wife, he is survived by a daughter and two grandchildren.