The Guardian is reporting that Erich Segal, a screenwriter and novelist best-known for penning both the film and book versions of Love Story, has died at the age of 73 of a heart attack. Segal was a 32-year-old professor when he wrote the iconic tale of the star-crossed romance between a wealthy jock and an eccentric, dying working-class girl. In a story that has become pop-culture lore, Segal originally wrote Love Story as a screenplay but when it didn't sell he took the advice of an executive and turned it into a novel. The novel became a best-seller and then a massively successful motion picture that gave the world, "Love means never having to say you're sorry".