Author Philip Kunhardt Jr. dead at 78

CHAPPAQUA, N.Y., March 25 (UPI) -- Former Life magazine managing editor, film writer and producer Philip B. Kunhardt Jr. has died in Chappaqua, N.Y., at age 78.

The owner of a family filmmaking business, Kunhardt Productions, died Tuesday of pulmonary fibrosis, The New York Times reported Saturday.

With sons Peter and Philip B. III, he made films such as the 2003 eight-hour PBS documentary "Freedom"; the 10-hour documentary series "The American President," also for PBS; and "P.T. Barnum," a three-hour biography that ran in 1995 on the Discovery Channel.

He authored more than a dozen books including "My Father's House" and "The Dreaming Game," which told the story of his mother, children's author Dorothy M. Kunhardt, best known for writing "Pat the Bunny."

He joined Life magazine as a reporter in 1950 and was assistant managing editor by the time Life stopped publishing in 1972. He worked on other Time Inc. magazines until 1978 when Life was revived, and was its managing editor until he retired in 1982.

He is survived by his wife, a sister, six children and 18 grandchildren.