Michael McLaughlin, 53; Author of Nearly a Dozen Cookbooks

Michael McLaughlin, 53, coauthor of the “Silver Palate Cookbook” who wrote nearly a dozen other cookbooks, was found dead last week at his home in Santa Fe, N.M.

Relatives said he died of natural causes.

Born in Wray, Colo., McLaughlin attended the University of Colorado, but dropped out and took a job as a waiter in a Tex-Mex restaurant in Boulder. It was there that he became interested in cooking and cuisine.

McLaughlin headed for New York City in 1979 and found a job in an Upper West Side food shop called the Silver Palate. When the owners, Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso, were approached to write a cookbook, McLaughlin was added as technical writer and developed many of the book’s recipes. Published in 1982, the “Silver Palate Cookbook” has sold more than 2 million copies.

After leaving the Silver Palate, McLaughlin was part owner and chef of the Manhattan Chili Co. in the Greenwich Village area of New York.

Cookbooks under McLaughlin’s name include “The New American Kitchen,” “The Back of the Box Gourmet,” “Wild About Mushrooms,” “52 Meat Loaves” and the “Manhattan Chili Company Southwest American Cookbook.”