Society of the Silurians EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM AWARDS DINNER The Players Club 16 Gramercy Park South Wednesday, May 22, 2013 Drinks: 6 p.m. Dinner: 7:15 p.m. Meet Old Friends and Award Winners Published by The Society of The Silurians, Inc., an organization (212) 532-0887 of veteran journalists founded in 1924 Members and One Guest $100 Each Non-Members $120

MAY 2013 Hurricane Sandy Coverage Dominates 2013 Silurian Awards Kihss Award To Wasserman

Coverage of Hurricane Sandy by an assortment of news organizations swept the 2013 Silurians Excellence in Journal- ism Awards for outstanding work last year. A blue-ribbon group of judges cited Sandy-related entries in the print, photo, radio, television and online categories. Named to receive the 2013 Peter Kihss Award is JoAnne Wasserman, former Brooklyn bureau chief of The Daily News, for her work as an outstand- ing reporter and her dedication to helping young journalists, in the tradition of the legend- JoAnne ary New York Times Wasserman reporter. Alas, soon af- ter the award was announced, Ms. Wasserman was laid off by the paper as part of a major staff reduction. Multiple award winners include Richard Harbus of The Daily News won the top award in the breaking news photograph category for his shot of the Pennyfield seawall , , The in the Throgs Neck-Edgewater Park section of the Bronx as it is hit full force by Hurriane Sandy. Daily News, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The Record, NY1 and CBS were Myron Kandel, chairman; Allan The winners are: paper’s comprehensive in-depth coverage 880 radio. The awards will be presented Dodds Frank, co-chair; Jerry Eskenazi; PRINT JOURNALISM of the devastating impact Hurricane at the Society’s annual awards dinner Herb Hadad; Barbara Lovenheim; Ben Breaking News Sandy wreaked on the city and on coastal May 22 at the Players Club. Patrusky; Wendy Sclight ;and Joseph The prize for breaking news in print areas in New York and , as The judges of the prize competition Vecchione. goes to The New York Times for the Continued on Page 2 Hoge on Journalism 101: Tell the Story BY WARREN HOGE give me so many words. When the story dropped a while was in an undergraduate English class on later, it often bore little trace of what the writers had told Spenser’s “The Faerie Queene” when the pro- me in the earlier rushed moments. So I would summon Ifessor said something that pretty much set me up them back to the desk (memorably, in the case of The for the rest of my life. He talked about a principle he Times, over a sonorous city room microphone) and tell called “the recreative impulse” and explained it meant them to trust the instincts they used to get my attention that something hadn’t really happened to you until you the first time and write the piece that way. told someone else about it. Bingo, I thought, so that’s Decades later, when I was the London bureau chief why I’m driven to telling stories all the time. of The Times and covering the Northern Ireland peace I had spent two teenage summers working as a pot process, I was giving my take on the recreative impulse washer in the galley of a New York State Maritime to Brendan Kennelly, the great Irish poet and profes- College training ship that sailed to ports abroad, and on sor of modern literature at Trinity College Dublin. He those trips, I remember feeling somehow incomplete nodded excitedly in agreement. “Do you know,” he said, until I could retreat to my cabin, pull out my portable “the literal translation of the morning greeting in Gaelic typewriter and compose lengthy letters about all the ad- is ‘What’s your news?’” In other words, in Ireland, ventures I was having. A foreign correspondent was the greatest yarn-spinning land I know, people say good being born. morning to each other by asking them what their story This realization that experience is validated only when is. Bingo, I thought again. it’s communicated is what led me into journalism 50 years Now, if story telling is at the essence of journalism, it ago, and it’s what’s behind the advice I most frequently also is at the heart of why I have loved my life in jour- gave reporters. I’d tell them that when you sit down to nalism. Simply put, can you imagine a greater work- write, imagine you’re filling in your best friend on what place than a room full of gregarious story tellers? I you’ve just covered, listen to the way you set out the worked in three such places: the newsrooms of The facts, and you’ve probably stumbled onto the lede. (Washington) Evening Star, The Post and The Times. I recall a lot of times when I was on the metro desks The Post is where I had my introduction to New York of The and, later, The New York Times, journalism, and it is also the place that is on my mind and people would come in from an assignment. I’d be when I go to Gramercy Park for Silurian lunches be- on two or three phones at once, and I would look up and cause I am always reminded of a wonderful colleague DIVIDED LOYALTY: Warren Hoge with a couple of blurt out some form of “What happened?” The report- there, Helen Dudar, who, with her husband, the master- souvenirs from a lifetime of journalism. ers would fire back with key details, and I’d tell them to Continued on Page 6 PAGE 2 SILURIAN NEWS MAY 2013 Hurricane Sandy Coverage Dominates 2013 Silurian Awards Continued from Page 1 well as of the aftermath of the storm. That coverage, by virtually every department of the paper, was augmented by outstand- ing photos, graphs and maps and was ac- companied by a massive live interactive feed. The 13-day coverage grew to 643 news posts and represented the most ambitious multi- platform operation in the paper’s history. MERIT AWARD To The New York Post for the paper’s gripping deadline coverage of the shootings outside the Empire State Build- ing, when a gunman shot and killed a former co-worker. The Post published crisply writ- ten articles and sidebars on the event, includ- ing incisive portraits of the shooter and his victim and testimony by eyewitnesses. MERIT AWARD To The Record for its wide-ranging coverage of Hurricane Sandy and its impact on northern New Jersey, in- cluding individual reports on two dozen towns in its area. Its reports were accompa- nied by a number of striking photographs showing the effects of the storm. Feature News Winners of the prize for feature news are William K. Rashbaum, Wendy Ruderman and Mosi Secret of The New York Times for their thoroughly-reported and sensitively-written article on the life and death of Cecilia Chang, a dean at St. John’s University in Queens, who com- mitted suicide the day after testifying at her federal trial on charges of fraud and embezzlement. They unearthed notes and This photo of Michelle Paulin of California and Storme, a Dogue de Bordeaux, awaiting their turn at the Westminster Kennel Club Show documents that helped them chronicle the at Madison Square Garden, won Robert Sabo of The Daily News the best feature picture category. bizarre events concerning her career and Sports Reporting and issues involved. Her articles range from Bloomberg columns that illuminate how the details of her grisly death. Members of the sports staff of The abuses in the medical field to inspiring ex- abuses by financial firms, lax regulation MERIT AWARD Daniel Bases, a reporter Daily News win the sports award for their amples of organ donations. and unfair industry practices harm inves- at Thomson Reuters, wrote a fascinating, well- reporting of the bizarre case of Melky Arts/Culture tors, consumers and even employees. written and diligently researched article on a Cabrera, the baseball star who was sus- The arts/culture award goes to Thane Community Service little-known expert who influences how na- pended after testing positive for elevated Peterson for his wide-ranging and inten- The award for community service goes tions run their finances, emerge from defaults, levels of testerone, including his machi- sively researched investigation into the to a penetrating series of articles by Mary pay their debts and re-enter the international nations to avoid any sanctions and some questionable production and sale of post- Beth Pfeiffer in The Poughkeepsie Jour- financial markets. He illustrates how a com- of his shady associates. humous bronzes stamped with the signa- nal that explores the extent of Lyme dis- plex and often-obscure corner of global fi- MERIT AWARD ture of Salvador Dali. His influential ar- ease in the paper’s area and exposes the nance can be brought to life by focusing on Bloomberg reporters Curtis Eichelberger ticle, published in ARTNews (with addi- shortcomings and conflicting interests of one key individual. and Elise Young receive a Merit Award for tional reporting by George Stolz and the medical and governmental communi- MERIT AWARD Jay Levin of The Record their article showing that Rutgers University Charles Rump), revealed a detailed pic- ties in dealing with the ailment. Her is one of the best-read writers for this north- pours more money from taxpayers and stu- ture of a flagrant abuse in today’s art groundbreaking reports vividly demon- ern New Jersey paper. His specialty is death, dent fees into sports than any other large market. strate how a public health crisis has been and his obituaries and special features on the U.S. university. Their hard-hitting reporting, MERIT AWARD An arts/culture Merit mismanaged and minimized. A Merit subject ring with authenticity, sensitivity and based on a financial data base built from Award goes to Pia Catton for an engaging se- Award is also given to John Ferro for his reality. Among his other work, he is cited for documents obtained using public records ries of her Culture City columns in The Wall contributions to this series. one gripping piece for which he spent months requests, found a sharp contrast between Street Journal, in which she visited each of MERIT AWARD New York Post reporter interviewing four hospice patients about their spending on sports and rising tuition and fees. three museum shows of Caribbean art with Josh Margolin receives a Merit Award for his feelings about death and the nature of their Business/Financial a different New York-based Caribbean- coverage of shortcomings in the city’s 911 lives. Rather than dwelling on pathos, his ar- The prize for business/financial report- American artist. Her creative approach to a response process and the Bloomberg ticles reflect what one patient said shortly ing goes to Susan Pulliam, Rob Barry and sprawling, 500-work city-wide exhibition of- Administration’s efforts to suppress a report before his death: “I am at peace.” Jean Eaglesham of The Wall Street Jour- fered new perspectives and made intriguing critical of the emergency-dispatch system. Investigative Reporting nal for their exhaustive six-month inves- connections. MERIT AWARD Sophia Hollander of The prize for investigative reporting tigation that uncovered insider trading by MERIT AWARD Philip Boroff of The Wall Street Journal receives a Merit goes to Sam Dolnick of The New York a thousand corporate executives who Bloomberg is honored for his groundbreaking Award for a thoroughly-researched series of Times for his fiercely reported exposé of traded stock in their own companies coverage of the business side of the Broad- articles on divorce that uncovered the toll the horrific conditions that prevailed at ahead of potentially market-moving cor- way theatre, notably his article on the huge that shoddy legislation has taken on fami- New Jersey’s privately-run halfway porate news announcements. sums earned by the creators, investors and lies as a result of muddled court rulings and houses for newly-released prison inmates. MERIT AWARD After Hurricane Sandy producers of the blockbuster musical lopsided alimony awards. In his dogged, 10- month pursuit of the devastated homes on Long Island, Newsday “Wicked,” which he found by analyzing MAGAZINE REPORTING story, he tracked down and interviewed reporter Joe Ryan delved into the complexi- nearly 1,700 pages of documents obtained Bloomberg reporter Esmé E. Deprez current and former officials, facility work- ties and limitations of flood insurance with a through the Freedom of Information Act. wins the prize for magazine reporting ers and inmates (there’s not one anony- series of well-researched articles that elicited Boroff shed new light on the profits and com- for her sensitive and finely-tuned piece mous quote to be found in the three- part widespread reader response and earned him pensation of hit shows, which are usually on income inequality and its ramifica- series). He fashioned a devastating ac- a Merit Award. closely-guarded secrets in the theater world. tions on social mobility. Titled “Poor count of unrelenting violence, widespread Science/Health Editorial Writing Forever? Connecticut’s Ribbon of drug use, rampant gang activity, unmiti- The award for science/health report- Newsday’s editorial board wins the Hardship,” it chronicles two families as gated mismanagement and lax oversight. ing goes to Delthia Ricks of Newsday prize for editorial writing for its powerful they struggle to move up the financial The series led to the introduction of 14 for three crisply reported stories that ad- and continuing series of editorials in the ladder against great odds. She reform bills, huge fines and the resigna- dress both the majesty and the darker side aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. In the 62 poignantly brings to life the reality of tion from the $100-million-a-year company of modern medicine, including how high- days from the arrival of the devastating the growing gulf between rich and poor. that ran the system of a top official and tech artificial limbs have enabled a young superstorm to the end of 2012, the paper PRINT PHOTOGRAPHY close friend of Gov. Chris Christie. woman who lost all four limbs resume ran 32 editorials on the subject, among Breaking News MERIT AWARD Newsday reporters her life; the danger of infection resulting them demands that the Long Island The winner in the breaking news Keith Herbert and Jennifer Maloney win a Power Authority be privatized; exposing Merit Award for their investigation into the from hip-replacement surgery; and the photograph category is Richard deaths and injuries that have turned threat posed by the growing influx of failures in the local emergency-response Harbus of The Daily News for his Hempstead Turnpike into Nassau County’s counterfeit medications. system, and questioning the wisdom of evocative photo of the brunt of Hurri- “16 Deadly Miles.” Their work resulted in a MERIT AWARD Lindy Washburn of The building in dangerous shoreline locations. cane Sandy as it hits a seawall by host of government actions to try to make Record wins a Merit Award for her compel- News Analysis Pennyfield Avenue in the Bronx near that heavily-traveled highway safer for pe- ling and wide-ranging coverage of the health Susan Antilla wins the prize for com- the Throgs Neck Bridge. destrians and drivers. beat that eloquently brings to life the people mentary for a series of eye-opening Continued on Page 3 MAY 2013 SILURIAN NEWS PAGE 3 JoAnne Wasserman’s Winding Road to City Hall BY GEORGE ARZT the Post in 1979, work- had quite a few beats at f ever there was a newspaper ing the graveyard shift The News, and she woman who personified a movie with rewrite men like brought an unflinching Icharacter it’s JoAnne Wasserman. Michael Hechtman and investigative eye to each She is so reminiscent of Hildy Johnson of Cy Egan. It was dur- one. “Front Page” that she should play the ing this time that The In 1994, she received part in the next remake. New York Times re- an award from the New JoAnne is very deserving of the Peter ported that Nelson York Press Club for her Kihss Award not only because she is a Rockefeller died in the piece, “Dying of AIDS, A great reporter, but because she fully em- presence of his young Mother Seeks a Home bodies what this award is all about — her aide Megan Marshack, for Her Son.” The story willingness to help younger journalists. with whom he was was later made into a tele- JoAnne came up through the ranks in widely rumored to have vision movie. JoAnne a very traditional way. I do not believe had an affair. The City was recognized by the reporters come up like JoAnne did any- Desk sent JoAnne to Deadline Club for the more, and she may be among the last gen- stake out Rockefeller’s Learn to Read series in eration to do so. After graduating from apartment. As a result the News, and the Citi- Purchase College in 1977, she waited of JoAnne’s aggressive zens Committee for Chil- tables while freelancing at local commu- efforts to get a story, dren for her coverage of nity papers, making 50 cents a column she made the doorman children’s issues. In inch. She was soon hired to freelance at at Rockefeller’s build- 2002, she received a Big the Soho Weekly News by the legendary ing cry. The following Apple Award for stories editor Al Ellenberg. It was Al who gave day the Post ran the exposing dangerous con- JoAnne one of her first story ideas after story from the The ditions in city buildings. asking how she was surviving on hardly Times on page 1, but with In 2004, JoAnne was any money. Al assigned JoAnne a piece the addition that after named the Brooklyn bu- about waitressing. being denied access to JoAnne Wasserman reau chief of the News, When she told him she wanted to write the building by the door- and quickly turned the for a major newspaper, Al told her to man, their reporter made him cry. still friends, and the charge of my trying section into a must-read. One of her last use his name with Myron Rushetzky, It was while working for me at the to destroy her career is our private joke stories as a reporter was written with who at the time was the City Desk as- Post’s City Hall Bureau in 1981 that and it still punctuates all our emails and Brian Kates, and was a five-part se- sistant at The New York Post. Myron JoAnne was thrown into the deep end phone calls. ries on the immigrant middle-class in brought JoAnne in as a substitute copy of the pool. Every young reporter has a JoAnne broke many stories in Room New York City. This month, Ms. girl, and she was eventually hired to take “working without a net” moment and for 9, and she always had great sources. Wasserman was laid off by the News dictation. JoAnne it was when she mixed up “con- Once she found out a Health and Hospi- as part of yet another round of staff When computers first began to take demn” with “condone” in a story and no tal Corporation president, an émigré from reductions by the paper. over the newspaper business, reporters one at the copy desk caught it. We all Denver, used an unfortunate phrase When she was at the paper, JoAnne at the bureaus were still using typewrit- have that first experience of humiliation about a woodpile before an African- always demonstrated a willingness to ers so they would have to call in their in print. American group. That HHC President mentor younger reporters, just as Peter stories. On the other end of the line was JoAnne worked in Room 9 with leg- was soon replaced. Kihss helped so many of us. Just how JoAnne taking dictation from some of the ends like Clyde Haberman, Joyce JoAnne learned to cover a special- effective a mentor JoAnne is can be seen more colorful characters in newspapers. Purnick and Mickey Carroll. She learned ized beat at City Hall for the Post, and it by the list of quality reporters who are JoAnne was learning the business by tak- from the best. But she was a fierce com- is where she first made a name for her- alumni of the Wasserman Brooklyn bureau. ing dictation from court reporters like star petitor in Room 9, opinionated and ag- self covering education. Steve Dunleavy It is also what makes her such an ideal criminal court writer Mike Pearl and gressive. In fact, she often believed I was scanning the room looking for an honoree for the Peter Kihss Award. crime columnist Jerry Capeci. Their use was not pushing her stories enough with education reporter, and since she was the Like the legendary Kihss, JoAnne has of language gave JoAnne the opportu- the desk, and once accused me of “try- only one standing, she got the job. throughout her career demonstrated ex- nity to hear how great writers and re- ing to destroy her career.” It is an epi- In 1986, JoAnne moved to The Daily cellence in reporting, attention to detail, porters do their work. sode that encapsulates her drive and why News, where she began as that and being an inspiring mentor to junior JoAnne became a reporter for I am so fond of her. JoAnne and I are newspaper’s education reporter. She colleagues. Hurricane Sandy Coverage Dominates 2013 Silurian Awards Continued from Page 2 Feature News RADIO ous live coverage provided New York- MERIT AWARD Todd Maisel of the The award for the best feature picture Breaking News ers with a vital lifeline during a time of Daily News receives a Merit Award for a goes to Robert Sabo of the Daily News The staff of WCBS Newsradio 880 unprecedented hardship and anxiety. striking photo taken during the height of for his amusing shot of Michelle Paulin worked around the clock before, during News Feature the massive fire that destroyed more than of California and her dog Storme, a Dogue and after Hurricane Sandy to keep the When Al Campanis, the Dodgers gen- 100 homes in Breezy Point, Queens, during de Bordeaux, waiting for their turn at the New York area informed about the eral manager, stumbled in a 1987 Hurricane Sandy. 136th Westminster Kennel Club Annual progress of the superstorm and the dam- “Nightline” interview in trying to explain MERIT AWARD Winner of a Merit Show at Madison Square Garden. age, power outages and transportation dif- Continued on Page 4 Award is Corey Sipkin of The Daily News MERIT AWARD Showing his versatility, ficulties it inflicted. for a photo taken from Greenpoint, Brook- Robert Sabo also wins a Merit Award for his Investigative lyn, showing the southern half of Man- photo of New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter hattan without power in the immediate af- fracturing his ankle during the 13th inning of Reporting termath of Hurricane Sandy. a playoff game against the Detroit Tigers. It started with a conver- sation with ex-NBA star Chris Herren and his ad- Dennis Duggan Award to Irina Ivanova diction to drugs. Reporter Irina Ivanova, a student at the CUNY vestigative reporter Wayne Barrett at The Irene Cornell knew an im- Graduate School of Journalism, is Institute. portant story when she 2013 winner of the Dennis Duggan Award, According to the CUNY faculty, some heard it. She spent two given to a student at the school whose of her work brings Dennis Duggan to months tracking prescrip- work reflects the tradition of the late presi- mind. One of her professors recently tion drug traffic in the met- dent of the Society of the Silurians. said: “She did a classic Dugganesque She finished near the top of the class story last semester when she followed ropolitan area, resulting in during her first semester and has been a long-time postman on his last delivery a 24-part series that shed selected by her fellow students to serve before he retired after 20-plus years on light on doctors, addicts and on the search committee looking for the the same route.” the families caught in a next dean of the school. Duggan was for many years a colum- painkiller epidemic. Ms. Ivanova, a native of Kiev, Ukraine, nist for Newsday, specializing in stories TELEVISION graduated cum laude from Amherst Col- about ordinary people — teachers, cops, Breaking News lege, where she worked on publications fire fighters, shopkeepers — that captured dealing with politics, culture and the arts. their spirit and dignity. He died seven NY1 News wins the Before coming to CUNY, she interned at years ago, just when the CUNY Jour- breaking news award for its the Indypendent, a multimedia Web site nalism School was launching, and the consistent, authoritative dealing with community and cultural is- Silurians established an annual award and restrained coverage of sues in New York, and then worked there in his name for a J-School student. Hurricane Sandy before the as a reporter, writer, editor and Ms. Ivanova has specialized in busi- storm arrived, in the midst photographer. She later did community ness and financial reporting and will spend Robert Sabo of The Daily News, winner of the best feature of its havoc and in the picture, also won a Merit Award for his photograph of the relations work for the Fashion Institute of the summer as an intern at Crain’s New days, weeks and months Technology and had a fellowship with in- York Business. Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter fracturing his ankle during that followed. Its continu- a playoff game last October against the Detroit Tigers. PAGE 4 SILURIAN NEWS MAY 2013 For These Silurians, No Generation Gap BY LINDA GOETZ HOLMES The Westchester newspapers didn’t have always been proud of the fact have a pension plan; as a result, the man- that I am a second-generation Sil- agement allowed aging editors to remain Iurian. Then I discovered that I was in their jobs, even as they showed signs not alone. There are four other active of — shall we say, forgetting things. Dad Silurian members who can claim that sometimes complained about “that old distinction, including one father-and-son fossil at the Ossining desk” — so he duo. They are Fred Ferguson, Allan thought the name of our society was per- Dodds Frank, and Kenneth C. Crowe fect for veteran newsmen. And when he and Kenneth C. Crowe II. died in 1973, Dad had his current Silurians My father, Theodore B. Goetz, who membership card in his wallet. I served retired in 1970 after 43 years as news as president of the Silurians 2004-06 and bureau chief at Westchester County Pub- have been an active member of the Board lishers, with headquarters in White Plains of Governors ever since I left that office. and now owned by Gannett (all the re- Fred Ferguson’s father, Fred Sr., an early gional papers were renamed The Jour- member of the Silurians, had a long jour- nal-News, which has recently gained nalism career. He was a boyhood friend notoriety by publishing the names and of Roy Howard (of Scripps- Howard fame) addresses of Westchester and Rockland and joined United Press in 1906. The residents with legal gun permit applica- younger Fred recalls that Howard sent his tions; Dad is turning in his grave, I guar- father to France to replace Westbrook antee you.) Pegler, who had run afoul of Gen. John J. Dad always found it hilarious to be a Pershing, the World War I American com- member of a society named after fossils. mander there, and that he periodically vis- You know the story: four veteran news- ited the general after the war. papermen got together for lunch in 1924; And when the Dionne quintuplets were Mort Sheinman at the end of the lunch, one remarked, born in May 1934, Ferguson Sr. rushed A trio of second-generation Silurians: from left, Allan Dodds Frank, Linda Goetz Holmes and Kenneth Crowe form a select group. “Us old fossils have had such a good time, up to Quebec and got an exclusive inter- we should form a club and meet once a view with the quints’ doctor, Dr. Alan Roy then spent three decades at the national way play “Spread Eagle.” He died in month, inviting a speaker to talk about the Defoe, and persuaded him to speak at a Sunday newspaper supplement Family 1967. The younger Lister, a long-time re- newspaper business.” Silurians luncheon. The junior Fred re- Weekly, where he served as publisher, porter, editor and foreign correspondent The second one said, “What will we members his father bringing him to president, chief executive and chairman. with The and call the club?” Silurians luncheons at the Lotus Club in He died in 1987 at age 77. then with CBS News, was treasurer of The third: “Well, the first layer of fossil the late 1940’s. Fred Ferguson Sr. was Allan worked at The Anchorage Daily the Silurians when he died in 2011. rock in which you find human fossils is president of the Newspaper Enterprise News before moving on to The Washing- But the Kenneth Crowe team is still the Silurian layer.” Association syndicate for many years. He ton Star, Forbes magazine, ABC televi- with us. Ken Sr. has won four Silurian And they all agreed: “That’s what we’ll died in 1960. sion, CNN and Bloomberg TV. He cred- awards. Three came for being part of a name the club!” So the rest of us have Fred Jr. worked for UPI for 27 years, its summer trips with his father with his Newsday investigative team in 1968, been explaining that name for the last 89 starting as a photo messenger and rising own knowledge of the newspaper busi- 1969 and 1970, which covered land scan- years. to reporter, bureau manager and general ness. “He would bundle my sister, brother dals in the Suffolk County towns of news editor. He then moved into public and me into his station wagon, and we Babylon, Brookhaven, and Islip. relations and later headed news features would spend six weeks touring the coun- Newsday won a Pulitzer gold medal in at PR Newswire. A long-time Silurian try, stopping into newspaper offices along 1970 for that coverage. He received a Society of the Silurians board member, he remembers his father the way,” Allan says. fourth Silurian medal in 1998 for his in- Officers 2012-2013 bringing him to society luncheons at the Allan has continued the family tradi- dividual efforts reporting the exploita- President Lotus Club in the late 1940’s. tion by bringing his own twin daughters to tion of illegal immigrant workers. MYRON KANDEL Allan Dodds Frank’s father, Morton Silurian events. Melissa and Katy came “One of the joys of being the father First Vice-President Frank, joined the Silurians in 1981 and to the luncheon with Jules Feiffer, be- part of a father-and-son Silurian duo is ALAN DODDS FRANK served as president in 1987-8. He was cause Melissa is an aspiring cartoonist attending some of the organization’s lun- Second Vice-President BETSY ASHTON born on Flag Day, June 14, 1912, and died and both are writers who were ardent cheons with my son, Ken,” he said, not- Treasurer on Pearl Harbor Day, Dec. 7, 1989. Allan readers of Feiffer’s children’s books. ing that Ken now seldom gets a chance MORT SHEINMAN himself, the incoming president of the And he brought Katy, who is co-editor to attend our luncheons since he works at Secretary Silurians, has a special connection with of High School’s E- The Albany Times-Union. The junior LINDA AMSTER our meeting place. He and his wife Lilian magazine, to last year’s Lifetime Crowe became president of the Albany Board of Governors were married in front of the fireplace at Achievement Award dinner to hear Newspaper Guild and won the national IRA BERKOW BILL DIEHL The Players Club. Gloria Steinem first hand. Newspaper Guild’s award for out- GERALD ESKENAZI Mort Frank spent his entire working life Our late colleague Walter Lister was standing local leadership; his Guild unit RICKI FULMAN LINDA GOETZ HOLMES in the news business, mostly as an editor also a second-generation Silurian. His fa- also won a Human Rights award. BERNARD KIRSCH and publisher. He worked on newspapers ther, Walter B. Lister, was a newspaper Now who’s going to become the first ENID NEMY MAX NICHOLS in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Arizona, and reporter and a co-author of the Broad- third-generation Silurian? BEN PATRUSKY KAREN BEDROSIAN- RICHARDSON JOAN SIEGEL JOSEPH J. VECCHIONE Hurricane Sandy Coverage Dominates 2013 Silurian Awards Governors Emeritus Continued from Page 3 transportation problems. chosen not to enforce one of the nation’s GARY PAUL GATES HERBERT HADAD why blacks did not have managing or MERIT AWARD NY1’s political director, most important civil rights laws. ROBERT D. McFADDEN Bob Hardt, rode out Hurricane Sandy from News Commentary LEO MEINDL coaching jobs in baseball, the moment turned into a national discussion. On the his home in Rockaway Beach. He kept read- John Sandman receives the award for Committee Chairpersons 25th anniversary of that show, ESPN’s ers aware of the impending storm and then shining a light on the abuses of payday- Advisory Jeremy Schaap and producer Willie its rolling effects as he posted blogs and vid- lending services that charge exorbitant fees TONY GUIDA eos during the worst of it. Then, when it was Weinbaum put that event into perspective, for customers who can least afford them. Dinner over, he wrote about the aftermath in a deeply BILL DIEHL talking to major figures involved and dis- personal way, giving the reader a sense of His work was published in the online jour- Legal cussing the impact it had on baseball. having survived it. nal City Limits and was reported in part- KEN FISHER ONLINE SERVICES Investigative News nership with The Investigative Fund at the Membership Breaking News Nicole Hannah-Jones of Pro Publica Nation Institute. He found that some un- MORT SHEINMAN Web-only DNAinfo.com became a vi- receives the award for her penetrating scrupulous payday lenders are circumvent- Nominating ing usury restrictions by using the internet. BEN PATRUSKY tal and reliable source of information dur- examination of why segregated housing ing the days and nights of Hurricane patterns have persisted in the U.S. five MERIT AWARD Murray Weiss, criminal Silurian Contingency Fund Trustees justice editor of DNAinfo.com, receives a LARRY FRIEDMAN, CHAIR Sandy and its aftermath, with reportage, decades after the passage of the landmark Merit Award for his commentary, reporting NAT BRANDT pictures, maps and graphics. It helped JOY COOK Fair Housing Act. Focusing on both his- and analysis of the controversial policy of MARK LIEBERMAN New Yorkers keep up with the latest de- torical and present-day issues, including “stop and frisk” by the New York City Police MARTIN J. STEADMAN velopments and enabled them to find the situation in Westchester County, her Department. He found that the mounting Silurian News such basic necessities as food, shelter startling findings showed that both Demo- BERNARD KIRSCH, EDITOR number of such actions had little impact on and water and kept them abreast of cratic and Republican presidents have improving crime statistcs. MAY 2013 SILURIAN NEWS PAGE 5 Betsy Wade, Woman Of Many Firsts BY JAMES BOYLAN making a 45-year commitment. As the f they asked me, I could write a 105-year-old newspaper’s first woman on book. But they didn’t ask me, so the copy desk, she was started in the Ithis will have to do. women’s department (where she replaced My acquaintance with Betsy Wade a male), then moved to the main event, a runs back to 1951, when she was a stu- spot on city copy desk, then replete with dent at the Columbia School of Journal- spittoons and mossbacks, after our sec- ism, one of only 10 women in her class, ond son was born. and I was a sub-sub-editor at a Sunday Thence to the foreign copy desk, and magazine supplement. We met at Pete’s she became its head during the critical days near Gramercy Park at a bachelor din- of the Vietnam War, polishing the filings of ner. Betsy, born in the city, went to school such stars as . In 1971, in Bronxville, attended Carleton College, she served on the elite team that edited and graduated from Barnard. She had the Pentagon Papers in a secret hotel suite. wanted to be a journalist since junior high. She became a colleague and friend of the Betsy Wade, circa 2013, was the first woman on a New York Times copy desk. Flash forward a year or more. We great Homer Bigart and years later com- married while she had a job in the piled an anthology of his war correspon- yer—Harriet Rabb of the Columbia Law tional Society for Travel Medicine, which women’s section of The New York Her- dence, titled “Forward Positions.” School’s Employment Rights Project. Both helped her develop many stories on trav- ald Tribune, which was abruptly termi- So far, a rapid enough rise. But the sides began playing for keeps and on Nov. elers’ health, injuries and illnesses and— nated when the editor, Eugenia Sheppard, story became complicated. There were 7, 1974, the case called, for short, Boylan as always, one more thing—she served learned she was pregnant. Out. She unanticipated obstacles, such as the Vic- v. Times, was initiated. Boylan was the ISTM as its parliamentarian. worked briefly at the School of Journal- torian policy that forbade a woman to Betsy’s payroll name. She continued active in women’s and ism and, once our son was born, found a work a very late shift. Moreover, Betsy The struggle, narrated in detail in Nan journalism organizations—mainly the job at the Scripps-Howard NEA Syndi- always wanted to do one more thing. On Robertson’s 1992 book, “The Girls in the Journalism and Women Symposium cate, writing under such house names as her own time, she freelanced dozens of Balcony,” went on for four years and (JAWS), a durable coalition of the young “Alicia Hart.” articles for various sections of the news- ended in October 1978 in a severely quali- at heart. Not incidentally, she was nomi- In 1956, she took The New York Times paper. She taught part-time at the Colum- fied win—a minor cash settlement and an nated a member of the Silurians by Joan up on its complaint that it could not find bia Journalism School. She gave blood. affirmative action plan to last four years, Cook and Richard Shepard, and is now a good copy editors. Try me, she said, and Most important, she became shop stew- which led eventually to increased oppor- 25-year member. they did, perhaps unaware that they were ard in the Newspaper Guild unit and a tunities for the next generation of women. She has received awards from all of perennial contract negotiator. Betsy and her fellow plaintiffs had the her colleges—Barnard, Carleton, and the The Guild went out for the long strike reward of continuing to work. Looking Columbia School of Journalism, not to of 1962-63 and, fearing poverty, she con- back, she commented: “We know that we mention recognition from the National stantly baked beans for us and worked opened doors for a new generation that Women’s Hall of Fame, which gave cita- on one of the temporary papers published may not know they were ever closed.” tions to all the named plaintiffs in the case during the strike. Then the Guild, seeking On the heels of the settlement, Betsy against the Times. to create a pension plan, had a strike of became the first woman president of Lo- In June 2001, she accepted a buyout, its own in 1965, and she was a picket cal 3 of the Newspaper Guild, founded in but had one last argument with the news- captain and later a pension trustee. In 1933 by the sainted Heywood Broun. No paper. She was asked to write an article 1975, she was elected to the Guild’s In- motion upward at all now. She was sent on travel refunds and cancellations after ternational Executive Board and became upstairs in 1977 to serve as assistant travel the attacks of September 11. She wrote it a member of a faction called the “Sui- editor and then returned to the newsroom only to find the Times would not publish it cide Six,” which was ultimately instru- in 1981 to join the rim of the national desk. unless she yielded her claim to all the work mental in severing the Guild from an al- Nor did the Guild readily accept her re- she had ever freelanced for the Times. liance with the CIA. form ticket or the salience of women in She refused and sold the article to Con- If the Guild activities were not already her administration. The leadership she and sumer Reports. creating hazards for her career, she found her colleagues had displaced fought her She has continued to seek out rewards the women’s movement, or vice versa. and her allies by means fair and foul, and in her post-retirement years. She served To the burden of running a copy desk, try- her service to the Guild ended in 1982. as copy editor for ponderous United Na- ing to improve her union, and seeing two In 1987 she was offered the Times’s tions publications, and, with her husband, sons through high school, she added the Practical Traveler column, created by has edited a series of local history works Times Women’s Caucus, which came to Paul Grimes, and she remained in travel for the Stonington (Connecticut) His- life in 1972 when a group of employees news for 14 years. She worked hard at torical Society. And there are still those perceived that their way to the big jobs making the column much more than a si- two sons, now with spouses, and three was blocked by an institution that had necure. She sought out the real problems grandchildren each, but not a journalist never conceived of women as figures of mass travel, pioneered in seeking ac- among them. worthy of equal pay or authority. cess to transportation for the handi- The struggle stretched over six years, capped, and often raised questions that Jim Boylan is founding editor of the In 1974, Ms. Wade addressed the Times starting with unrewarding conversations clashed with the generally soft material Columbia Journalism Review. He and Company annual meeting, urging the with management and ending in Federal in the section. To augment her work, she Betsy observed their 60th anniversary paper to appoint women to its board. court. The women found a tough law- became a member of the new Interna- last December.

Silurians in the News fraud.” Frank will receive the award at career achievement and Gerry’s achieve- operated by the society and appears in the 24th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Con- ments include 40 years with The Times newspapers all over the state. Robert Lipsyte has been appointed ference, June 23-28, in Las Vegas. A regu- with more than 8,000 bylines, 16 books, ESPN’s fifth ombudsman. He will begin lar contributor to Fortune.com and and, currently, travel writing for the Ira Berkow‘s 20th book, “Summers at his 18-month term in June with critique Newsweek/The Daily Beast, Frank was Huffington Post. Shea” (Triumph Books, $14.95), is on and analysis of the network’s content. In chosen in recognition of a broadcasting and the shelves. Subtitled “Tom Seaver addition, he will write pieces that will ap- print career in investigative reporting dur- Lewis Grossberger’s newly published Loses His Overcoat and Other Mets pear on ESPN.com, conduct on-line ing which he has specialized in complex “Game of Cohens,” a parody of HBO’s stories,” it includes 40 years of columns chats, and other multi-media interactions fraud cases. The ACFE is the world’s larg- Game of Thrones, is available at and articles about New York’s National with fans. Lipsyte was the recipient of est anti-fraud organization and premier pro- amazon.com. Lewis guarantees two League team by our win- The Peter Kihss Award last year. vider of anti-fraud training and education. laughs per page or your money back. ning colleague.

Allan Dodds Frank will be the recipi- Gerald Eskenazi, former sportswriter for Max Nichols was inducted into the Okla- Evan Wiener’s new e-book, ent of the Guardian Award given each The New York Times, will join the ranks homa Historians Hall of Fame on April 19 “America’s Passion: How a Coal year by The Association of Certified of such notables as Justice Felix Frank- in Clinton, Okla. . He has written a monthly Miner’s Game Became the NFL in the Fraud Examiners (ACFE). The award furter, Dr. Jonas Salk, and lyricist Ira column for the Oklahoma Historical Soci- 20th Century” about the origins of pro- is bestowed annually to a journalist Gershwin on Nov. 7 when he receives ety since 1990, when he became its public fessional football in the coal mining coun- whose “determination, perseverance, the Townsend Harris Medal, the highest relations director, and has continued to do try of western Pennsylvania, came out and commitment to the truth have con- honor awarded to graduates of the City so even after retiring in 2002. The column recently on smashwords.com and can tributed significantly to the fight against College of New York. The award is for tells about events occurring in museums be purchased for $2.99 PAGE 6 SILURIAN NEWS MAY 2013 Hoge on Journalism 101: Tell the Story Continued from Page 1 ful Newsweek writer Peter Goldman, lived in the building on the east side of Gramercy Park. The paper we worked for was the old bleeding heart liberal New York Post. People at the time cracked that an apt headline would be Cold Wave Hits New York/Jews, Negroes Suffer Most. I was one of the very few from my tribe to be at The Post, and I was grateful to Helen for sticking up for me in my first year as city editor after I had asked who wanted to do the Purim story and pronounced it Pure- Im. Jew-WASP humor was to provide me an identity I embraced at The Post, and years later, when Max Frankel, the ex- ecutive editor of The Times, asked me if I knew what a megillah was, I was able to tell him that you couldn’t become city editor of The New York Post of my time speaking only English. Helen was one of the stars of a news- room that had an exceptional line-up of talented women. Just to name a few, there were Nora Ephron, Fern Marja Eckman, Judy Michaelson and Roberta Brandes Warren Hoge with Abe Rosenthal, left, and Clyde Haberman in Panmunjom, the village near the 38th parallel where the truce ending the Gratz, with soon to come. Korean War was signed in 1953. As a foreign correspondent, Hoge reported from more than 80 countries. And, of course, our publisher was the for- midable Dorothy Schiff, who gave her America, but my New York Times Lon- clutter this copy with self-regard but to male counterparts at the other New York don bureau colleague Alan Cowell did me show what a land of opportunity and ad- papers fits. one better. When he was a wire service venture newspaper journalism has been for In four decades of newspapering, I’ve correspondent in East Africa, he filed by me. At The Star, I covered police head- lived through a host of ways to file, start- carrier pigeon. These days, 30-somethings quarters and the courts; at The Post, I was ing with walking my copy over to the West- who run their cursors all day over the words the Washington correspondent, editorial ern Union office near the National Press “Cut” and “Paste” look at me in wonder- writer and city editor; at The Times, local Building in Washington where a guy in an ment when I tell them that I actually had a reporter, deputy metropolitan editor, re- eyeshade and sleeve garter would tap it pair of scissors and a paste pot on my desk. gional editor, editor of The New York Times off to New York; through my foreign cor- I’ve been blessed by great mentors who Magazine, bureau chief in places as di- respondent years in Latin America when have also become cherished friends, like verse as Rio de Janeiro, London, and The you had to punch a paper tape full of per- my boss at The Post, Paul Sann, and at United Nations and assistant managing forations and then thread it through a Telex The Times, Abe Rosenthal. I’ve had editor overseeing, at various points cul- machine; to the early days of electronic model writers to look up to, like Mary ture, style, sports, the book review, travel, transmission with bulky machines that McGrory at The Evening Star; Pete and the management of the newsroom. you’d plug a telephone receiver into and Hamill, Murray Kempton, Jimmy I have long thought that the most chal- hope for a connection while the minutes to Wechsler, Max Lerner and all those lenging and fulfilling job I ever had, the deadline ticked off. One of the women in women I mentioned at The Post; and too one that best presented the test of ana- The Times’s Albany bureau lost an entire many to name at The Times, though Bob lyzing and communicating remote situa- file one cold upstate winter morning when McFadden is high on any list of them. When tions and struggling, dying to find just the her flannel skirt rose on static electricity I was the foreign editor of The Times, we right phrases to tell the story was being a in the air, pointed towards the early gen- had a sudden three-month opening in foreign correspondent for The Times. But eration word processor on her desk and the London bureau, and Abe suggested let me mention another one which I par- What? Me panic? Another day in the erased her entire story from the screen. we make the assignment a gift to our fa- ticularly loved because it represented the Times’s newsroom. I prided myself in finding telephone vorite person in the newsroom. So we sent stick-shift nature of big city tabloid jour- the whiskey for our after-deadline drink lines for sending dispatches under fire in Richard Shepard, everyone’s favorite. nalism that I reveled in long before I be- when the presses in the basement would the midst of guerrilla wars in Central I cite the roster of jobs I have had not to came a dedicated broadsheet Timesman. rumble to life. It was the hot type era of galleys and Afterward, I would leave the building chases and turtles and flyboys and and step out into the rancid morning mist and mats and hulking linotype machines off the East River with the fresh bulldog pressing sentences out of bars of molten edition under my arm. That, my friends, lead alloy and a line justification proce- was big city daily journalism, and I was dure enticingly called “trimming widows deliriously happy to be part of it. on the stone.” Let me end this not with a tag, but with I was the night city editor of The Post, a headline. It was written by Post manag- working the lobster shift. It began at mid- ing editor Robert Spitzler, and it was about night, and I would take three trains down the moment in the Watergate hearing that to the East Broadway stop from my Up- White House aide Alexander Butterfield per West Side apartment, walk through revealed the existence of the tape record- the lower East Side darkness (storefront ing machine that President Nixon secretly Italian–American “social clubs” on ev- had installed under his desk. How to cap- ery corner were said to make it safe) to ture the story with the gravity it deserved the paper’s South Street headquarters, but with the attitude we gloried in? enter the building through the compos- That day The Post would read: “Nixon ing room back door, and make my way Bugged Himself.” to the newsroom passing by all the counter tops of empty page forms that it Warren Hoge is the Senior Adviser was my job to fill by dawn. for External Relations at the Interna- Seven hours of furious pencil pushing, tional Peace Institute, an independent take-out Chinese and sign language con- not-for-profit think tank devoted to versation with deaf mute compositors conflict resolution through multilateral later, Paul Sann, the legendary Bronx-born diplomacy that he joined in 2008 on editor and self-described “garment leaving The New York Times. For more cutter’s skinny boy from Belmont Ave,” than four decades prior to that, he la- would arrive in his perp-walk swagger, bored in another not-for-profit enter- dressed in signature cowboy boots and prise called the newspaper business, black shirt. He’d ask what “the wood” working for The Times (32 years), The was, spew the room with endearing in- New York Post (10 years) and The The author gets his story on cocaine by visiting the coca fields of Bolivia. sults and profanities, and then break out (Washington) Evening Star (2 years). MAY 2013 SILURIAN NEWS PAGE 7 Thursdays at the Players Club Our Unhealthy Health System It received more than 1.2 million cita- was pre-empted by an interview with tions on Google, and more than a month President Obama). Thus, history was after his groundbreaking Time magazine made at Time. article on the state of American medical In his talk to the Silurians, Brill also care, Steven Brill attracted a full house at used the story as an illustration of what our Silurians’ April luncheon at the Play- he tells his writing students at Yale: ers Club. “The best stories are the ones you’re Brill, the lawyer who also founded Court most curious about.” TV as well as the magazine American He immersed himself in the arcane Lawyer, said at the event, “What you have world of hospital billing, even looked at is a system that’s completely broken.” help wanted ads for medical-equipment He laid out in fascinating detail the gen- salesmen on the Internet, and discov- esis of the 25,000-word story — “Bitter ered bizarre charging schemes that Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us” saw, for example, one woman go to a — the longest by one writer that Time hospital for stomach pains and wind up has ever run. He told how The New Re- with a $20,000 bill—for indigestion. public had come to him to help launch its But Brill also said he did not have revised magazine, how he spent several the solution to America’s spiraling months researching the piece, how he health-care costs. He did concede, wrote it, and then withdrew it from The however, “with transparency comes the Allan Dodds Frank New Republic when it decided to use it kind of solution we’ll need.” Steven Brill: His curiosity took him on a 25,000-word journey on U.S. medical care. for its second issue instead (he said he — Gerald Eskenazi Remembering Mayor Koch It was a luncheon that Ed Koch would have loved. The subject: Ed Koch. Three people who knew him well. and found him, in the words of Joyce Purnick, “frustrating, exhausting, and fun to cover,” formed a panel that en- tertained a Silurian luncheon on March 21. Ms. Purnick, the former City Hall bureau chief of The New York Times, was joined by JoAnne Wasserman of George Arzt; JoAnne Wasserman, center; and Joyce Purnick had plenty of Ed Koch stories to tell the Silurians. The Daily News, and George Arzt, New York Post City Hall chief who cress. “Years later,” Arzt said, “he ad- be in print, and on camera,” Ms. successful till the end. became Koch’s press secretary. mitted it was a piece of pork.” He Purnick said. But it was daunting, she On his last day, when he was going The Koch stories were classics. changed it to watercress because “he added, to get past the mayor’s “how’m back into the hospital, Arzt recalled, Like the time he told the press that was afraid he’d lose the Orthodox vote.” I doin’?” to get to what was really go- Koch called him to say, “I’m going back he almost choked to death in a Chi- The panel agreed that Koch invented ing on. in. I want a press release.” nese restaurant on sautéed water- 24/7 news before cable. “He lived to As for getting in print, well, he was — Bernard Kirsch A Lifetime of Writing said she was 7 years overturn Roe v. Wade? “Not with Obama old when her grandmother gave her a there, especially if he gets to appoint a typewriter. It started her on a lifelong new Supreme Court Justice.” Will Hillary passion – writing. Lots of writing. Fif- Clinton run for President? “Clinton is one teen books to date, including her 1978 of the few people in the country, perhaps landmark best seller, “Passages.” the only person, who doesn’t have to run Sheehy, now 76, is working on a mem- for President to be effective and have a oir about her life as a journalist, and legacy. Imagine leaving her last post more sharing that life with Clay Felker, popular than the President. But if she de- founding editor of New York magazine, cides to run—and I’d like her to run— who hired her early in her career. They she’ll have a huge [women’s] network married in 1984. “Felker pushed me to ready.” the edge,” she said. “It was the new When asked about Felker’s final days journalism.” No more summary lead in 2008, Sheehy gave a poignant remem- paragraphs; instead, tantalize the reader brance: Felker, then 83, was suffering with an opening scene. The New York from throat cancer and learned he was stories, Sheehy told a Silurians luncheon near the end. Felker loved jazz and in February, gave birth to a genre. The Sheehy took him to Dizzy’s Club, which consequences not only entered the cul- has a beautiful view overlooking Central Mort Sheinman ture, but revised it. Park. “There was a full moon that night And the writing goes on: Gail Sheehy is at work on a memoir. During a Q & A after she addressed and there was a man his age playing jazz and I’m going to play an original composi- next hour he was a young boy drum- the audience, Sheehy was asked if she piano,’’ she recalled. “At one point the tion, ‘Life Is What You Make of It.’ mer again. We got home, and he was pleased with the progress women pianist stopped. ‘You know,’ he said, “That was Clay’s philosophy,” said wanted to talk. He took my hand and have made since the birth of feminism. ‘there’s a lot of bad stuff out there in news- Sheehy. “Clay, who had been a drum- said, ‘That was a magical evening.’ “You bet I am,” she replied. Is she paper headlines, a lot of dissension. Music mer as a boy, began drumming on the He died two days later.” worried that the Supreme Court might is supposed to make all of that go away, table with swizzle sticks. And for the — Bill Diehl President’s Letter PAGE 8 SILURIAN NEWS MAY 2013 BY MYRON KANDEL his is my last report as Presi- dent, and I’m happy to say Tthat I can turn over the of- fice into the good hands of Allan Dodds Frank with a sense of satisfaction. It’s been a successful year, with high-qual- ity luncheon programs, very high at- tendance, many valued new members and a solid financial footing. Despite internal turmoil at the Players, the club has been a great venue for our meet- ings and the food and service have been first-rate. Perhaps the highlight of the year was the presentation of our Lifetime Achievement Award to Gloria Steinem and her stirring remarks about her own career, the women’s rights movement she spearheaded and her insights into the field of journalism. And this month’s Peter Kihss award to JoAnne Wasserman of The Daily News hon- ors someone who follows in his tradi- tion of outstanding reporting and help- The Silurians new hierarchy effective after the May 22 dinner: Allan Dodds Frank, center, who will become president, with first vice ing younger journalists. president Betsy Ashton and second VP Joe Vecchione. Our luncheons have been varied in content but universally admired. We started with recollections of working with Mike Wallace by Marlene Sand- ers, Sandy Socolow and Gary Paul For Stan Isaacs, A Fond Farewell Gates, followed by the husband-and- BY IRA BERKOW came at it from a different angle.” wife duo of Steve Shepard and Lynn loved Stan Isaacs. How could you Stan broke some stories, such as San Povich, both discussing recently pub- not? He was so honest and fair and Francisco Giants manager criticizing his lished memoirs. Steve wrote about his decent and thoughtful and profes- Latin and African-American players. long service as editor of Business I sional and caring and warm. Well, maybe His yearly listing of the best chocolate Week and more currently as the found- not everyone loved him, at least for some ice cream in the world (readers were ing dean of the CUNY Graduate School small period of time, as I saw it. I remem- invited to send in their nominations) was of Journalism, and Lynn chronicled the ber when Stan and I, he at Newsday, me an annual treat. His drive to have a groundbreaking class-action suit by the at The Times, took Howard Cosell to task statue erected of the moment on the dia- women of Newsweek, which she in print for something or other at some mond that PeeWee Reese put his arm helped lead. time which I no longer remember. around the shoulders of his Dodger team- The year 2013 started with a memo- Howard took such exception to the criti- mate, the rookie first baseman Jackie rable talk by two-time Pulitzer Prize cism that Stan and I had leveled at him – Robinson, despite sniper death threats to winner and former Taliban captive legitimate, reasoned and even-handed Robinson, resulted in that statue now David Rohde, who is now a columnist criticism, to be sure – that Howard, it came standing outside the minor-league ball at Thomson Reuters. Then came au- back to us, referred to we two noble park in Coney Island. thor and journalist Gail Sheehy and scribes as Sleaze One and Sleaze Two. I Stan, born in Brooklyn, was 10 years memories of Mayor Ed Koch by Joyce took pride in believing it was me who was older than me. I met him shortly after I Purnick of The Times, JoAnne Sleaze One, but Stan insisted that it was came to New York to work as a sports- Wasserman of The Post and The he who was Sleaze One. writer in 1967. He was then a successful, News, and George Arzt, who was City Stan and I never resolved the issue, highly respected sports columnist, but al- Hall bureau chief for The Post and then but that was probably the only conflict we ways generous with advice when asked, Koch’s press secretary. The luncheon Stan Isaacs ever had. (Howard eventually saw the and information when asked. I quoted season ended with Steve Brill discuss- wisdom of our position, to some extent, original angle (even in flippant form), the him in regard to perspective in a column ing his amazing 25,000-word cover and we got back on better personal terms other is that he was going just a bit deeper I wrote in January 1970, when I lamented story in Time magazine about the out- with him.) (if even, well, in this case, something of a the difficulty for me upon turning 30, of landish cost of U.S. health care. On the night of Tuesday, April 2, Stan stretch). “growing old.” Stan shrugged the shrug I recite all this to recall the quality Isaacs died in his sleep at his home in It was part of what has come to be of an old-timer. “Well,” he said, “wait of our luncheons and to remind you Haverford, Pa. He was 83, and the loss, called “the Chipmunk” concept of sports until you turn 40!” about what you missed if you skipped as great as it was to his family (including reporting. A group of young writers, That’s how long ago it was. It was all them or will miss if you don’t come. his three daughters, Nancy, Ann and Ellen mostly from afternoon papers, began in too short a time. The future is in good hands with — his adored wife of 58 years, Bobbie, the early `60s to seek ways to tell a story Allan Dodds Frank as incoming presi- had passed away last year), it was also beyond what was then the generally con- IRA BERKOW wrote sports for The dent; Betsy Ashton and Joe Vecchione profound within the journalism commu- ventional one. In the recently published, New York Times from 1981-2007, and as first and second VPs respectively; nity, particularly that peculiar but, it says “Keepers of the Game: When the Base- Newspaper Enterprise Association Karen Bedrosian Richardson as trea- here, indispensable segment known as ball Beat Was the Best Job on the Pa- from 1967-1976. surer; and Linda Amster continuing as sports writing. per,” by Dennis D’Agostino, Isaacs said: secretary. Other new board members Stan, with a delightfully, sometimes “I had this vision of being the equiva- are Jack Deacy and Anne Rophie. odd-ball approach, appropriately enough lent of a city-side reporter – the guys who Departing board members deserving of named the sports column he wrote for a covered politics and crime and things like New Members our thanks are Max Nichols and Joan good part of the 40 years he was em- that. You do a good job, cover the story, Olga Henkel, former senior researcher for CBS Siegel, who also performed dedicated ployed by Newsday, “Out of Left Field,”. and you don’t become pals with those you News, former senior researcher and director of service as secretary for many years. Remember, for example, that he was cover. One day, when I was starting out, political research, ABC News. No one deserves more praise then the one who asked the now famous, and, Joe DiMaggio was involved in a weird Colleen Katz, whose magazine background Mort Sheinman, who steps down as yes, odd-ball question, to Yankee pitcher play. I asked him about it, and he gave a ranges from Woman’s Day to New Jersey treasurer, a post he re-assumed after Ralph Terry, after he had pitched a World non-answer. I walked away, and Joe Monthly to The Journal of Accountancy. serving as president. Fortunately, Mort Series game in 1962. Terry was called Trimble of The Daily News came over will remain on the board and continue Gail Sheehy, best-selling author (“Passages” away from answering questions at his to me and said, ‘Stan, you don’t go over and more than a dozen other books), and as membership chairman, and he locker to get a phone call. When he re- and ask Joe about the play. You wait until award-winning journalist and lecturer. merirts our deepest thanks. Continu- turned, the reporters wanted to know what he lets us know he wants to talk to us.’ I ing to do yeoman work are Bernie Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr., chairman and the call was about. “My wife,” said Terry. was stunned. That’s not the way a city Kirsch, who’s been editing splendid publisher, The New York Times. “She’s feeding the baby.” And Stan asked, side or political reporter would do it. I issues of the Silurian News, and Joe “Breast or bottle.” Vecchione, who has revitalized and Stan later explained that Bobbie had updated our Web site, Silurians.org. given birth not long before that, and that And my thanks to you all for allow- Society of the Silurians In Memoriam he “knew about things like that.” But he ing me to serve as president a second PO Box 1195 Lawrence Racies, 97, a Silurian and CBS considered it a flippant line, a joke (Terry time around, and all good wishes to a Madison Square Station News cameraman, died last month. supposedly took it that way), part of worthy collection of journalists for a New York, NY 10159 locker-room banter. It may also have dem- Gene Boyo, 92, longtime Silurian, veteran of great future as our society moves into 212.532.0887 onstrated the two sides of Isaacs the jour- Fairchild, New York Herald Tribune, New York the second half of its 90th year. www.silurians.org nalist. One was that he was seeking an Times and Olin public relations, died last month.