Gordon S. Murray | Investor guide, 60

Gordon S. Murray, 60, a retired Wall Street executive who chose not to go quietly into the night - writing and self-publishing a popular paperback guide for individual investors while struggling with terminal cancer - died last Saturday at his home in Burlingame, Calif.

The cause was glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, his wife, Randi, said.

Written with Daniel C. Goldie, Mr. Murray's book, The Investment Answer, sold out the 20,000 original copies in the fall, with a particular increase after it was the subject of a column in the New York Times.

Brisk sales prompted a bidding war among established publishers. Business Plus, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, will release 150,000 hardcover copies Tuesday.

The book's premise is that most people invest haphazardly in whatever hot stock or mutual fund they last heard about. It offers a blueprint for how to do better.

Among the book's suggestions: Rebalance by selling your winners and buying more of the losers. Most people can't bring themselves to do this, even though it improves returns over the long run. Also, hire an adviser who earns fees from you, not from mutual funds or insurance companies.

A bond salesman for Goldman Sachs, Mr. Murray rose to managing director at Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse First Boston before retiring in 2001.

In 2008, he was found to have brain cancer. Last June, a brain scan revealed a new tumor. Knowing he had only months to live, Mr. Murray stopped aggressive medical treatment and decided to get the word out about his newfound investment principles. Working with Goldie, he began writing an 88-page treatise. Until then, "there was no bucket list," he said.

"To have a purpose and a mission for me has been really special," he said. "It probably has added days to my life."

- N.Y. Times News Service