Jeremy Larner, a speechwriter for Senator Eugene J. McCarthy’s 1968 Democratic presidential campaign and author of the Oscar-winning screenplay, “The Candidate,” died on Feb. 24 in Oakland, CA. He was 88.

In 2012, Time magazine named “The Candidate” one of the 15 best political films of all time, calling it an “unsentimental, mordantly funny dissection of bigtime politics.” When Mr. Larner accepted the Oscar for best original screenplay, he thanked “the political figures of our time who’ve given me terrific inspiration,” drawing laughter from the audience.