Alan Finder (February 19, 1948 – March 24, 2020) was an American journalist. He was a longtime employee of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. He died during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

from complications brought on by

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He was 72 years old.

Early life and education

Alan Aaron Finder was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and raised in

Nassau County, New York Nassau County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New York. At the 2020 U.S. census, Nassau County's population is 1,395,774. The county seat is Mineola and the largest town is Hempstead. Nassau County is situated on western Long Island ...

, graduating from Valley Stream South High School. He earned a B.A. in history at the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The University of Roc ...

in 1969 and an M.A. in American studies at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1972.

Career

From 1974 to 1979, he worked at ''The Record'' in

Hackensack, New Jersey Hackensack is a city in and the county seat of Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.New Jers ...

, and then until 1983 at ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...

'' on Long Island. Beginning in 1983, Finder worked for 27 years at the ''

'' where he was known for his coverage of local news, government, education, urban affairs, sports, international news and politics. He hosted a roundtable on a local New York TV channel, NY1, during which he would talk to other reporters about the current events. He retired in December 2011. ''Times'' executive editor Dean Baquet described Finder as "one of Metro's stars in the 1980s and 1990s, a big writer in a big, hugely competitive era for New York City news". In retirement, he continued to work as an editor for ''The Record'', ''Newsday'', and on the international desk of the ''New York Times''.

Personal life

He lived in Ridgewood, New Jersey with his wife Elaine. In addition to his wife, Finder left behind a son, Jason Finder, a daughter, Lauren Drucker and a brother, Michael Finder.

Death

Finder died on March 24, 2020, at

The Valley Hospital The Valley Hospital is a 451-bed, acute-care, not-for-profit hospital in Ridgewood, Bergen County, New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east ...

in Ridgewood, New Jersey. He had recently tested positive for

References

1948 births 2020 deaths Journalists from Brooklyn The New York Times journalists Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in New Jersey People from Nassau County, New York University of Rochester alumni Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni 20th-century American journalists American male journalists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American male writers Newsday people Valley Stream South High School alumni {{US-journalist-1940s-stub