He was a professor emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he taught English and American literature and Creative Writing.
An acclaimed novelist, he was also a critic and the author (with Robert Goldberg) of a nonfiction study of the network news and a biography of Ted Turner.
Reviewers compared his crisp prose and caustic humor to Nathanael West, Donald Barthelme, Joseph Heller and Thomas McGuane.
Set in France, they feature Inspector Paul Mazarelle, a detective called "charming" and "indomitable" by Publishers Weekly.
The Mystery Tribune called Gerald Jay "truly a master in elegant use of language and a bright star in the world of crime fiction."
Jerry Harvey, programming chief of Los Angeles’s legendary Z channel, nearly succeeded in bringing Orin Newfield to the screen.