Pete Hamill
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William Peter Hamill (June 24, 1935August 5, 2020) was an American
journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
, novelist, essayist and editor. During his career as a
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journalist, he was described as "the author of columns that sought to capture the particular flavors of New York City's politics and sports and the particular pathos of its crime." Hamill was a columnist and editor for the ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...
'' and the ''
New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...
''.


Early life and education

The eldest of seven children of
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immigrants from
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, Northern Ireland, Hamill was born in the
Park Slope Park Slope is a neighborhood in South Brooklyn, New York City, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park and Eighth Avenue (Brooklyn), Prospect Park West to the east, ...
section of
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
.
His father, Billy Hamill, lost a leg as the result of an injury during a semi-professional soccer game in Brooklyn. Hamill's mother, Anne Devlin Hamill, a high school graduate, arrived in New York on the day the stock market crashed in 1929. Billy Hamill was introduced to Anne Devlin in 1933 and they married the following year. Billy Hamill had jobs as a grocery clerk, in a war plant, and later in a factory producing lighting fixtures. Anne Hamill was employed in Wanamaker's department store, and she also worked as a domestic, a nurses' aide, and a cashier in the RKO movie chain. Hamill's younger brother, Denis, also became a columnist for the ''Daily News''. Hamill attended Holy Name of Jesus grammar school and delivered the '' Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' when he was 11. In 1949, Hamill attended the prestigious Regis High School in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
, but he left school when he was 15 to work as an apprentice sheet metal worker in the
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; 59 years later, in June 2010, Regis awarded him an honorary diploma. Inspired especially by the work of Milton Caniff, he was set on becoming a comic book artist. Hamill attended night classes at the
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(then called the Cartoonists and Illustrators School), with the goal of becoming a painter. He also took courses at
Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...
, which awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1980. In the fall of 1952, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Following his discharge, in 1956–57, he was a student at Mexico City College on the
G.I. Bill The G.I. Bill, formally the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I. (military), G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in ...
.


Career


Journalism

In 1958, while serving as the art director for a Greek-language newspaper the '' Atlantis'', Hamill talked his way into writing his first piece about his friend, Puerto Rican professional boxer José Torres, then a neophyte middleweight and Olympic champion. This led Hamill to pursue writing a few letters to the editor for the ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...
'' of which two were printed. Hamill eventually attracted enough attention and was hired as a reporter for the ''New York Post'' in 1960. The 1962–63 New York City newspaper strike led Hamill to start writing magazine articles. By the fall of 1963 he was a correspondent for ''
The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...
'', stationed in Europe. Hamill spent six months in
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
and five months in
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, and traveled Europe interviewing actors, movie directors, and authors, as well as ordinary citizens. In August 1964 he returned to New York, reported on the Democratic Convention in Atlantic City, and was briefly employed as a feature writer at the '' New York Herald Tribune''. He began writing a column for the ''New York Post'' in late 1965, and, by the end of that year, was reporting from
Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
. For more than four decades, he worked at the ''New York Post'', the ''New York Daily News'', the '' Village Voice'', and '' New York Newsday''. He served briefly as editor of the ''Post'', and later as editor-in-chief of the ''Daily News''. His resignation from the latter position after eight months prompted a letter of protest signed by more than a hundred of the paper's writers. Hamill's more extensive journalistic pieces have been published in '' New York'', ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'', ''
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'', ''
Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...
'', ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'', and other periodicals. He wrote about wars in Vietnam, Nicaragua, Lebanon and Northern Ireland, and reported on America's urban riots of the 1960s. Hamill wrote about the New York underclass and racial division, most notably in an essay for ''Esquire'' magazine, "Breaking the Silence". He also wrote about boxing, baseball, art, and contemporary music, winning a
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
in 1975 for the
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to Bob Dylan's '' Blood on the Tracks''. However, while at the ''New York Post'', Hamill defamatorally wrote of the later exonerated Central Park Five that the teens hailed “from a world of crack, welfare, guns, knives, indifference and ignorance…a land with no fathers…to smash, hurt, rob, stomp, rape. The enemies were rich. The enemies were white.” Two collections of his selected journalism have been published: ''Irrational Ravings'' and ''Piecework'' (1996). For the
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he edited two volumes of the journalism of A.J. Liebling. In 1998, he published an extended essay on contemporary journalism titled ''News is a Verb: Journalism at the End of the Twentieth Century''.


Fiction

Hamill also wrote fiction, producing ten novels and two collections of short stories. His first novel, a thriller called ''A Killing for Christ'', about a plot to assassinate the
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on
Easter Sunday Easter, also called Pascha (Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek language, Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, de ...
in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, was published in 1968. Drawing on his youth in Brooklyn he next wrote a semi-autobiographical novel called ''The Gift''. Most of his fiction is set in New York City, including ''Snow in August'' (1997), ''Forever'' (2003), ''North River'' (2007), and ''Tabloid City'' (2011). His 1971 column ''Going Home'', about a released prisoner on his way home by bus, inspired the smash 1973 hit song ''
Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" is a song recorded by Tony Orlando and Dawn. It was written by Irwin Levine and L. Russell Brown and produced by Hank Medress and Dave Appell, with Motown/Stax Records, Stax backing vocalist Telma Ho ...
''. Hamill published more than 100 short stories in newspapers, including those that were part of a series called ''The Eight Million'' in the ''New York Post''; in the ''Daily News'', his stories ran under the title ''Tales of New York''. He published two volumes of short stories: ''The Invisible City: A New York Sketchbook'' (1980) and ''Tokyo Sketches'' (1992).


Nonfiction

Hamill's 1994 memoir, ''A Drinking Life'', chronicled his journey from childhood into his thirties, his embrace of drinking and the decision to abandon it. According to Hamill, Frank McCourt was inspired by the book to complete his own memoir, '' Angela's Ashes''. Hamill's memoir ''Downtown: My Manhattan'' includes his reporting for the ''New York Daily News'' on the destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, at which he was present. Hamill's book on the Mexican muralist
Diego Rivera Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957) was a Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the Mexican muralism, mural movement in Mexican art, Mexican and international art. Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted mural ...
was inspired by time spent in
Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
in 1957 and his presence at Rivera's funeral. In ''Tools as Art'' (1995), Hamill surveys the Hechinger Collection and the incorporation of utilitarian objects for aesthetic ends. His biographical essay on the artist was featured in ''Underground Together: The Art and Life of Harvey Dinnerstein'' (2008), whose work, like Hamill's, often focuses on the people and cultural life of Brooklyn. Hamill's interest in photography informed his later essays in nonfiction. ''New York: City of Islands'' (2007), celebrates the photography of Jake Rajs. ''New York Exposed: Photographs from the Daily News'' (2001) contains an extended essay about the New York Daily News and its role in American
photojournalism Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...
. In his introduction to ''Mexico: The Revolution and Beyond'' (2003), Hamill writes about Agustin Victor Casasola, whose photographs recorded the Revolution of 1910–1920. In his introduction to ''A Living Lens: Photographs of Jewish Life from the Pages of the Forward'' (2007), Hamill evokes the heyday of American
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journalism. His text for ''The Times Square Gym'' (1996) enhances John Goodman's photographs of prizefighters, while his introduction to ''Garden of Dreams: Madison Square Garden'' (2004) offers a context for the sports photography of George Kalinski. Hamill's Irish heritage informs the text for ''The Irish Face in America'' (2004), as seen by the photographer Jim Smith. Hamill also wrote about comic strips, of which he was a collector. Among his writings on the subject are an introduction to '' Terry and the Pirates: Volume Two'' by Milton Caniff (2007), and an introductory text for a revised version of
Al Hirschfeld Albert Hirschfeld (June 21, 1903 – January 20, 2003) was an American caricaturist best known for his black and white portraits of celebrities and Broadway stars. Early life and career Al Hirschfeld was born in 1903 in a two-story duplex apa ...
's ''The Speakeasies of 1932'' (2003). He also contributed an introduction to '' Jerry Robinson: Ambassador of Comics'' (2010).


Television and film

Hamill penned a handful of teleplays and screenplays, including adaptations of his own novels, and had a few minor film roles, usually playing a generic "reporter," or himself. According to Robert Rosen, the Producer on '' French Connection II'', he re-wrote all of the
dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...
in the film, working nearly non-stop for three days, for which he did not receive screen credit. He appeared as a commentator in several documentaries, including Ric Burns' '' New York: A Documentary Film,'' and
Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV or the Nati ...
' ''Prohibition''. He also appeared as a speaker in the 2018, 4-part
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
documentary titled ''Bobby Kennedy for President''. Hamill played himself in the 1991 film The King of New York, directed by Abel Ferrara and starring Christopher Walken.


Personal life

Hamill married his first wife, Ramona Negron, in 1962. Together, they had two daughters, Adrienne and Deirdre. They divorced in 1970. Seventeen years later, he married Fukiko Aoki, a fellow journalist from Japan. His work meant that he resided for long periods of time in
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
,
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
,
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,
San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...
,
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,
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, and
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. A friend of Robert F. Kennedy, Hamill helped persuade the senator to run for the United States presidency. He subsequently worked for Kennedy's campaign and covered it as a journalist. He was one of four men who disarmed Sirhan Sirhan of his gun in the immediate aftermath of the senator's
assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...
. Hamill died on August 5, 2020, at NewYork–Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. He was 85, and suffered from heart and kidney failure at the time of his death, in addition to having fractured his right hip in a fall.


Honors

Hamill received the
Ernie Pyle Ernest Taylor Pyle (August 3, 1900 – April 18, 1945) was an American journalist and war correspondent who is best known for his stories about ordinary American soldiers during World War II. Pyle is also notable for the Columnist#Newspaper and ...
Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists in 2005. In 2010 Hamill received an Honorary Doctor of Letters Degree from St. John's University. In 2010 he was presented the
Louis Auchincloss Louis Stanton Auchincloss (; September 27, 1917 – January 26, 2010)Holcomb B. Noble and Charles McGrath''The New York Times''. Retrieved on January 27, 2010. was an American lawyer, novelist, historian, and essayist. He is best known as a novel ...
Prize from the
Museum of the City of New York The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is a history and art museum in Manhattan, New York City, New York. It was founded by Henry Collins Brown, in 1923Beard, Rick. "Museum of the City of New York" in to preserve and present the history ...
. In 2014 Hamill received the George Polk Career Award. Hamill was a Distinguished Writer in Residence at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
. Hamill and Jimmy Breslin were interviewed for the 2019
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documentary '' Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists'', which details both the friendship and competition between New York City's two most read columnists of their era. A stretch of Seventh Avenue between 11th Street and 12th Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn, is named "Pete Hamill Way."


Bibliography


Fiction

*''A Killing for Christ'' (1968) *''The Gift'' (1973) *''Dirty Laundry'' (1978) *''Flesh and Blood'' (1977) *''The Deadly Piece'' (1979) *''The Guns of Heaven'' (1984) *''Loving Women'' (1989) *''Tokyo Sketches : Short Stories'' (1992) *''Snow in August'' (1998) *''Forever'' (2003) *''North River'' (2007) *''Tabloid City'' (2011) *''The Christmas Kid And Other Brooklyn Stories'' (2012)


Non-fiction

* ''Irrational Ravings'' (1971) LCCN 77163410 * ''The Invisible City : Short Stories'' (1980) - though subtitled "Short Stories" it is a collection of magazine journalism * ''A Drinking Life : A Memoir'' (1995) *''Piecework'' (1996) * ''News is a Verb'' (1998) *''Why Sinatra Matters'' (1999) *''Diego Rivera ''(1999) *''Downtown : My Manhattan'' (2004) *''News is a Verb: Journalism at the End of the Twentieth Century'' (2011) *''They Are Us: A Plea for Common Sense about Immigration'' (2011)


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamill, Pete 1935 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American male writers Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in New York (state) American columnists American male journalists American people of Irish descent Grammy Award winners Mexico City College alumni New Times magazine (1973-1979) New York Daily News people New York Post people People from Park Slope Regis High School (New York City) alumni The Village Voice people United States Navy sailors Journalists from Brooklyn Brooklyn Eagle people