Mumbai, July 12 :    Mumbai, July 12:  Veteran journalist and columnist Janardan Thakur died at his residence here early today after a heart attack. He was 64 and is survived by his wife Purnima, son Sankarshan and daughters Chitra, Pooja and Richa, a close friend said. Thakur was taken to a hospital after suffering his early-morning attack. He was declared dead on admission. Born in Bihar on March 1, 1936, Janardan Thakur started his career with the Patna daily, Searchlight, in December 1959. He was a Jefferson Fellow at the East-West Centre, Hawaii. In 1976, he joined the Ananda Bazar Patrika group and later in the 80s, took up freelancing and became a syndicated columnist. Known for his simple style and unique ideas to improve editorial content, he was, till recently, editor of the Free Press Journal. Thakur also authored books like All the Prime Minister?s Men after the Emergency; All the Janata Men; V.P. Singh: A Quest for Power and PMs: Nehru to Vajpayee. His latest, Faces: Forty in the Fray, is going into print today. Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and information and broadcasting minister Pramod Mahajan joined the journalistic community in condoling the death. Vajpayee said in an official release: ?Thakur enriched the field of journalism by his simple and incisive writing.?