Jimmy Breslin

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Jimmy Breslin

Breslin at the 2008 Brooklyn Book Festival
Born James Earl Breslin
October 17, 1930 (1930-10-17) (age 81)
Queens, New York
Occupation Reporter, Columnist, Novelist, Screenwriter, Playwright, Actor
Notable award(s) George Polk Award
Pulitzer Prize
Spouse(s) Rosemary Dattalico (1954-1981)
Ronnie Eldridge (1982-present)
Children James Breslin
Kevin Breslin
Rosemary Breslin
Patrick Breslin
Kelly Breslin
Christopher Breslin
Literature portal

Jimmy Breslin (born October 17, 1930) is an American journalist and author. He currently writes a column for the New York Daily News' Sunday edition. He has written numerous novels, and columns of his have appeared regularly in various newspapers in his hometown of New York City. He was the host of a 1986 ABC-TV series, "Jimmy Breslin's People." He was a regular columnist for the newspaper Newsday until his retirement on November 2, 2004, and still publishes occasional pieces there.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Born in Jamaica, New York, Breslin was a columnist for the New York Herald Tribune,[1] the Daily News, the New York Journal American, Newsday, and other venues. When the Sunday supplement of the Tribune was reworked into New York magazine by editor Clay Felker in 1962, Breslin appeared in the new edition, which became "the hottest Sunday read in town."[1]

He has been married twice. His first marriage, to Rosemary Dattolico, ended with her death in 1981. They had six children together: sons Kevin, James, Patrick and Christopher, and daughters Rosemary and Kelly. His daughter Rosemary died June 14, 2004 from a rare blood disease and his daughter Kelly, 44, died on April 21. 2009, four days after a cardiac arrhythmia in a New York City restaurant.[2] Since 1982, he has been married to former New York City Council member Ronnie Eldridge.

Among his notable columns (perhaps the best known) was the column published the day after John F. Kennedy's funeral, focusing on the man who had dug the president's grave.[3] The column is indicative of Breslin's style, which often highlights how major events or the actions of those considered "newsworthy" affect the "common man".

Breslin's public profile in the '60s as a regular guy led to a brief stint as a TV pitchman for Piels Beer, most memorably in a bar room commercial where he intoned in his deep voice: "Piels- it's a good drinkin' beer!"

He ran an unsuccessful campaign as an independent for the position of president of the New York City Council in 1969. He allied himself with Norman Mailer, who was running for the position of mayor at the same time, on a platform which proposed the secession of New York City from the rest of New York state. Both were soundly defeated.

His career as an investigative journalist led him to cultivate ties with various Mafia and criminal elements in the city, not always with positive results. In 1970, he was viciously attacked and beaten at The Suite, a restaurant then owned by Lucchese crime family associate Henry Hill. The attack was carried out by mobster Jimmy Burke, who objected to an article Breslin had written involving another member of the Lucchese family, Paul Vario. Though Breslin suffered an epistaxis(nosebleed) and a major concussion, he survived the ordeal without any permanent injury. In 1977, at the height of the Son of Sam scare in New York City, the killer, who was later identified as David Berkowitz, addressed letters to Breslin. Excerpts from these were published and later used in the Spike Lee film Summer of Sam, a film in which Breslin, portraying himself, bookends. In 2008, The Library of America selected one of Breslin's many Son of Sam articles published in the New York Daily News for inclusion in its two-century retrospective of American True Crime writing.

[edit] Awards

Breslin has received numerous accolades and awards throughout his career.

In 1985, he received a George Polk Award for Metropolitan Reporting.[4] In 1986, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.[5]

[edit] Controversies

In May 1990, after fellow Newsday columnist Ji-Yeon Mary Yuh described one of Breslin's articles as sexist, Breslin threw a tantrum in a newsroom, calling her a "slant-eyed cunt" and a "yellow cur", stating "the fucking bitch doesn't know her place". While the Asian American and anti-hate groups forcefully decried Breslin's outburst, he went unpunished until he later went on to "call into the Howard Stern show to joke about his outburst and exchange jabs about Koreans".[6] It was after his second act of insensitivity that led Newsday managing editor Anthony Marro to suspend Breslin, who then apologized.[7][8][9]

Upon George Steinbrenner's death on July 13, 2010, Brian Kenney interviewed Breslin live on ESPN and asked about Breslin's thoughts regarding Steinbrenner and his legacy. Breslin responded, "We need to stop deifying this man. He never played first base. He was the owner of the Yankees, and he was a good guy, but that's it." He also stated, "You're living in a phony history. This town never has much trouble, it's New York."[10][11]

He also famously called South Carolina and other Southern States the "low IQ states."[citation needed]

[edit] Works include

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Mclellan, Dennis (July 2, 2008). "Clay Felker, 82; editor of New York magazine led New Journalism charge". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jul/02/local/me-felker2. Retrieved 2008-11-23. 
  2. ^ Hauser, Christine (April 23, 2009). "Breslin's Daughter Dies After Collapse". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/nyregion/23breslin.html. Retrieved April 2, 2010. 
  3. ^ Digging John F. Kennedy's Grave Was An Honor: November 1963
  4. ^ http://www.liu.edu/About/News/Polk/Previous.aspx#1985
  5. ^ http://www.pulitzer.org/awards/1986
  6. ^ Helen Zia, Asian American Dreams, 2000
  7. ^ Kornheiser, Tony (1990, May 9). "The Real Jimmy Breslin". The Washington Post.
  8. ^ Russel, Dorothy Ing (1990, May 13). "Jimmy Breslin, Coward and Bully". The Washington Post.
  9. ^ Jones, Alex S. (1990, May 9). "Breslin is Given 2-Week Suspension". The New York Times.
  10. ^ http://www.sportsgrid.com/mlb/jimmy-breslin-gerge-steinbrenner-sportscenter/
  11. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_New_York_City_%281946%E2%80%931977%29#1970s

[edit] External links
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