H. Prather, inspiration for 'Deep Thoughts,' dies at 72

Hugh Prather, who turned his diary into a self-help guide called "Notes to Myself" that sold more than 5 million copies and inspired countless imitations, including Jack Handey's Saturday Night Live spoofs "Deep Thoughts," died Nov. 15 at his home in Tucson. He was 72.

He died in his hot tub after an apparent heart attack, said his wife, Gayle Prather.

Prather was an unsuccessful poet working as a ranch hand in Colorado dismantling beaver dams when he submitted his journal to Real People Press, a husband-and-wife book publisher in Moab, Utah.

A pastiche of witticisms, sage observations and rhetorical questions, "Notes to Myself: My Struggle to Become a Person," had an initial printing of 10,000 copies in 1970.

But the book's simple messages around themes of self-awareness, love, fear and spirituality captivated readers and made Prather a best-selling author and guru for the masses.