Author who wrote dating profile for her husband dies

Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Photo / Facebook

The American author and film-maker who announced her terminal cancer by writing a heartbreaking dating profile for her husband has died at the age of 51.

Amy Krouse Rosenthal learned she had ovarian cancer in 2015 and provoked tears this month with her essay entitled, You May Want to Marry My Husband.

Her literary agent confirmed her death, the Daily Telegraph reports.

"She taught us that life's seemingly small moments are not really small at all," said Amy Rennert in a statement to People magazine. "Amy's final essay, written under the most difficult of circumstances - a love letter to her husband Jason - was the ultimate gift to him and also to the rest of us. She leaves behind a legacy of love and beauty and kindness."

Rosenthal completed more than 30 books, including journals, memoirs and the best-selling picture stories Uni the Unicorn and Duck! Rabbit! She made short films and YouTube videos, gave Ted talks and provided radio commentary for NPR, among others.

She also raised three children and was known for her random acts of kindness, whether hanging dollar bills from a tree or leaving notes on cash machines.

She found a whole new audience when she wrote a piece for the New York Times' column Modern Love, about how she learned of her fatal diagnosis and how she hoped her husband would one day find love without her.

"If you're looking for a dreamy, let's-go-for-it travel companion, Jason is your man," she wrote.

"He also has an affinity for tiny things: taster spoons, little jars, a mini-sculpture of a couple sitting on a bench, which he presented to me as a reminder of how our family began.

"Here is the kind of man Jason is: He showed up at our first pregnancy ultrasound with flowers. This is a man who, because he is always up early, surprises me every Sunday morning by making some kind of oddball smiley face out of items near the coffeepot: a spoon, a mug, a banana."

She described how she simply wanted to spend more time with her husband and her children.

"I am wrapping this up on Valentine's Day, and the most genuine, non-vase-oriented gift I can hope for is that the right person reads this, finds Jason, and another love story begins," she added.