Dan Greenburg, the prolific humorist, best-selling author, essayist, playwright and screenwriter, whose satirical prose examined Jewish angst, died on Dec. 18 in the Bronx. He was 87.

Mr. Greenburg achieved national fame in 1964 with the publication of his How To Be A Jewish Mother: A Very Lovely Training Manual, a tongue-firmly-in-cheek assessment of the unique and often baffling qualities of a stereotypical Jewish mother. Though his own mother didn’t think it was particularly funny, the book sold more than 270,000 copies in its first year alone, and opened the door for the 28-year-old Mr. Greenburg to embark on a long career as a writer.

He subsequently published more than a dozen books for adults and later began writing humorous children’s fiction, turning out volumes of the popular “The Zack Files” series, for which his son was the inspiration. In a 1998 interview with The New York Times, Mr. Greenburg said, “There’s nothing more fulfilling than hearing that you’ve turned a kid on to books.”