The man who claimed he could solve the Middle East crisis with Marmite: That was just one of the odd 'lateral thinking' ideas that made him millions. But was Edward de Bono, who has died at 88, a genius or just a master of gibberish? Edward de Bono wrote over 60 books in his life, translated into 43 languages What made him unique was his rejection of standard view of problem solving De Bono, who has died age 88, began gathering degrees from the age of 15 The thinker had a Nobel prize nomination and an extremely eclectic fan base