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thatcrazycajunIn all the fuss over John Updike's recent death, the passing just days later of another excellent writer seems to have gone largely overlooked; I learned of it only today myself. James Brady, author of 15 books, longtime columnist for the New York Post and for the weekly national newspaper supplement Parade, died last Monday at age 80 in his Manhattan home of unspecified causes. Wikipedia has an entry on him here, and Parade's web site has a page here memorializing him and linking to some of the best celebrity interviews he did for his "In Step With..." column in that publication. (He is not, by the by, to be confused with the James Brady who served as White House press secretary during the Reagan years and whose injury helped cause the Brady Law to be enacted.)
Week after week for 23 years, this Brooklyn boy, Bronze-Star-winning Marine Corps 1st lieutenant and Korean War vet brought us closer to both the famous and those less so whom he thought deserved profiling. He kept on working right up to his death; his very last ISW interview, with actor/director Kevin Bacon, is slated to be published in two weeks. And this moving piece on returning to the scene of his war experiences demonstrates his skill and talent at its apex. He also wrote an insightful column on the industry where I used to work in Advertising Age for many years, which he had recently transferred to Forbes.com.
We probably didn't see eye-to-eye on much politically, but he never let his politics color his work that I could see...and I always came away from reading his columns knowing something about someone the usual celeb "journalism" doesn't tell you. He was the kind of reporter Elliot S. Maggin once described (speaking of a fictional counterpart) as "a great, grey mastodon of a newsman"—a breed sadly now one step closer to extinction. Rest well, sir, with thanks from a loyal reader and a hearty Semper Fi.
Week after week for 23 years, this Brooklyn boy, Bronze-Star-winning Marine Corps 1st lieutenant and Korean War vet brought us closer to both the famous and those less so whom he thought deserved profiling. He kept on working right up to his death; his very last ISW interview, with actor/director Kevin Bacon, is slated to be published in two weeks. And this moving piece on returning to the scene of his war experiences demonstrates his skill and talent at its apex. He also wrote an insightful column on the industry where I used to work in Advertising Age for many years, which he had recently transferred to Forbes.com.
We probably didn't see eye-to-eye on much politically, but he never let his politics color his work that I could see...and I always came away from reading his columns knowing something about someone the usual celeb "journalism" doesn't tell you. He was the kind of reporter Elliot S. Maggin once described (speaking of a fictional counterpart) as "a great, grey mastodon of a newsman"—a breed sadly now one step closer to extinction. Rest well, sir, with thanks from a loyal reader and a hearty Semper Fi.
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Date: 2009-02-02 03:50 am (UTC)no subject
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