death_date birth_place birth_date article_title birth_name occupation
13 december 2011 clinton , iowa , united states 07 july 1932 t. j. bass
 thomas j. bassler physician , science fiction writer
t. j. bass

t. j. bass , real name thomas j. bassler , md -lrb- july 7 , 1932 -- december 13 , 2011 -rrb- was an american science fiction author and physician , having graduated from the university of iowa in 1959 .
bassler is also known for his widely discredited claim that nonsmokers who are able to complete a marathon in under four hours can eat whatever they wish and never suffer a fatal heart attack .
john robbins has noted that jim fixx approvingly quoted bassler in his bestselling book , `` the complete book of running '' .
fixx died from heart failure at 52 while running .
u.s. congressman goodloe byron died from a heart attack while jogging in october 1978 .
he was 49 years old .
according to nutritionist and longevity research pioneer nathan pritikin , byron had run six boston marathons , with a best time of 3:28:40 , and had not smoked for 25 years .
byron was intrigued by bassler 's claim of immunity .
consequently , he ignored warnings from his physician who told him that treadmill tests from 1974 to 1978 indicated his coronary arteries were gradually closing .
the last treadmill test in january 1978 `` indicated severe abnormality and was positive for heart disease . ''
the physician advised byron to stop running until further tests could be done .
according to bassler , byron did not die from heart disease but because `` he probably was n't eating one of the six foods that marathoners eat : yeast , yogurt , peanuts , beer , wheat germ and vitamin c. '' however dr. manuel g. jimenez , who performed the autopsy , said in response , `` for me , it was plainly coronary insufficiency due to atherosclerosis . ''
two of bass ' novels , `` half past human '' -lrb- 1971 -rrb- and `` the godwhale '' -lrb- 1974 -rrb- , were nominated for the nebula award .
in both his books the hive was a three trillion population of ` nebishes ' - humans who had four toes and all aggressiveness bred out of them .
