John Naisbitt, author of bestseller ‘Megatrends,’ dies at 92

BERLIN — The American author John Naisbitt, whose 1982 bestselling book “Megatrends” was published in dozens of countries, has died. He was 92.

Naisbitt died peacefully at his second home near Lake Woerthersee in Austria, his wife, Doris Naisbitt, said on Saturday. His death on Thursday was earlier reported by the Austrian news agency APA.

Naisbitt was born on Jan. 15, 1929, in Salt Lake City and grew up in Glenwood, Utah. Early in his career, he was an executive at Kodak and IBM, and he was appointed assistant secretary of education at age 34 to President John Kennedy.

His book “Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives” was about understanding the present in order to predict the future. It sold more than 14 million copies in 57 countries.

Naisbitt published several other books, some of them dealing with the rise of China. He also founded the Naisbitt China Institute, a research institution studying the transformation of China and gave many lectures on future studies during his career. The Naisbitts lived in Vienna but had been travelling to China at least four times a year over the last couple decades.

“John was not only a man with great foresight, he was open and without prejudice, and not tied to any mainstream thinking,” said his wife, whom he married in 2000, after she was his German language publisher.

“He was not only a visionary man, he was a kind and gentle human being, with a sophisticated mind,” Doris Naisbitt said.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by five children and 12 grandchildren.

The Associated Press