Sad news for book lovers -- prolific author Jackie Collins has lost a lengthy battle with breast cancer, People reported on Saturday. She was 77.
"It is with tremendous sadness that we announce the death of our beautiful, dynamic and one of a kind mother, Jackie Collins, who died of breast cancer today," the Collins family told the mag in a statement.
"She lived a wonderfully full life and was adored by her family, friends and the millions of readers who she has been entertaining for over 4 decades," the statement continued. "She was a true inspiration, a trail blazer for women in fiction and a creative force. She will live on through her characters but we already miss her beyond words."
Collins published 32 novels in her nearly 50-year career, the most recent of which, "The Santangelos," hit shelves in June. All of Collins' books have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller list. Her work has sold more than 500 million copies worldwide and been translated into 40 languages.
She received a Stage 4 cancer diagnosis in 2009 and kept her illness private, according to People. She told the mag in a recent interview that she didn't let the grave prognosis deter her zest for life.
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"Looking back, I'm not sorry about anything I did," she said. "I did it my way, as Frank Sinatra would say. I've written five books since the diagnosis, I've lived my life, I've travelled all over the world, I have not turned down book tours and no one has ever known until now when I feel as though I should come out with it."
Collins is survived by her older sister, actress Joan Collins, her brother Bill, her three daughters and her six grandchildren.
The Collins family has asked those wishing to offer their condolences to do so through the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Organization or Penny Brohn Cancer Care. Private memorial services will be held in both the U.S. and the UK.
-- Erin Biglow
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