<p>TRURO, Mass. — Peter Manso, a writer and longtime Cape Cod resident known for his exhaustively researched books and articles, including biographies on the likes of Norman Mailer and Marlon Brando, has died. He was 80.</p>
<p>His wife, Anna Avellar, told the <a href="https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2021/04/07/cape-author-peter-manso-80-died-wednesday-his-truro-home/7132607002/?csp=chromepush">Cape Cod Times</a> that Manso most likely died of a heart attack. He died Wednesday.</p>
<p>Manso conducted hundreds of interviews for his hefty biographies of Brando and Mailer, the newspaper reported. As a journalist, he profiled Arnold Schwarzenegger, Roy Cohn and other famous figures for publications like Playboy, Vanity Fair, The New York Times and Politico.</p>
<p>Manso was ensconced in the social and literary life of Provincetown for many years and closely followed the trial of Christa Worthington, a fashion writer who was killed in nearby Truro in 2002. </p>
<p>The book he wrote about the case, “Reasonable Doubt: The Fashion Writer, Cape Cod and the Trial of Chris McCowen" argued that McCowen, who is Black, did not get a fair trial because of his race and criticized the prosecutor, the newspaper <a href="https://www.capecodtimes.com/article/20110219/News/102190317">reported</a> at the time it was published. McCowen was sentenced to life in prison without parole.</p>
<p>Manso attended Antioch College and Johns Hopkins University and received his Ph.D. in English from the University of California, Berkeley, the newspaper reported. </p>
<p>Survivors include his brother, Victor; stepsons Chad and Anson Avellar; and grandchildren Kupala and Aaron Avellar.</p>
