Jimmy Breslin

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Jimmy Breslin (James Earle Breslin) was an American journalist and author. He wrote a long-running column for the New York Daily News and also wrote for Newsday until he retired in 2004. He wrote many novels and books and became famous for his tough, street-smart writing about New York City and its people.

Early life
Breslin was born on October 17, 1928, in New York City, in Queens. He grew up in an Irish Catholic family. His father, a pianist, left the family, and Breslin and his sister were raised by their mother, Frances Curtin. He attended Long Island University from 1948 to 1950 but did not graduate. He started as a copy boy at the Long Island Press and soon became a columnist.

Career highlights
Breslin worked for several newspapers, including the New York Herald Tribune, the Daily News, and the New York Journal American, as well as Newsday and other outlets. In 1962, he appeared in the reworked Sunday section of the Tribune, which became New York magazine, a very popular Sunday read. One of his best-known columns was written the day after President John F. Kennedy’s funeral, about the man who dug JFK’s grave. His plain-spoken style focused on ordinary people and the city’s power brokers, always with sympathy for working-class New Yorkers.

Public life and media
For a time Breslin did a beer commercial, joking about Piels Beer. In 1969, he ran for president of the New York City Council with Norman Mailer, on a ticket that wanted New York City to break away from the rest of the state. He was known for saying, “I am mortified to have taken part in a process that required bars to be closed.”

Breslin’s investigative work brought him into contact with Mafia figures and criminals. In 1970, he was attacked and badly beaten at a restaurant by a gang member who objected to his reporting. Breslin survived with serious injuries but recovered. He kept writing and speaking publicly, including appearances at Harvard and on television.

In 1977, during the Son of Sam manhunt, the killer sent Breslin letters. Excerpts appeared in Breslin’s work and later appeared in the film Summer of Sam. In 2008, one of his Son of Sam articles was chosen for an American true-crime anthology.

Acting and later life
Breslin acted in the 1978 film If Ever I See You Again, and his performance earned a nomination for a Golden Turkey Award (a light industry award for poor acting). He hosted a late-night TV show, Jimmy Breslin’s People, on ABC in 1986, interviewing everyday New Yorkers. The show faced scheduling problems and was short-lived; Breslin eventually said he was “firing the network.”

Awards and controversies
Breslin won the George Polk Award for Metropolitan Reporting in 1985 and the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1986. He caused controversy in 1990 with a harsh remark that many found racist and sexist. He apologized after being suspended for two weeks.

Personal life
Breslin was married twice. His first wife, Rosemary Dattolico, died in 1981. They had six children: Kevin, James, Patrick, Christopher, Rosemary, and Kelly. His daughter Rosemary died in 2004, and his daughter Kelly died in 2009. In 1982 he married Ronnie Eldridge, a former New York City Council member, and they remained married until his death.

Death
Jimmy Breslin died of pneumonia on March 19, 2017, at his home in Manhattan. He was 88 years old. He left behind a legacy as a writer who spoke plainly about New York City and its people.