BRESLIN, Rosemary 1957-2004

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born March 23, 1957, in New York, NY; died of a blood disease resulting in cardiac and renal failure June 14, 2004, in New York, NY. Journalist and author. Breslin was a reporter for such newspapers as the New York Times and Daily News who later became noted for her book Not Exactly What I Had in Mind: An Incurable Love Story. A graduate of Hamilton College, where she earned a B.A. in 1979, she joined the staff at the now-defunct Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. Moving to New York City to work for newspapers there, she developed a rare and unnamed blood disease in 1989. The disease attacked her red blood cells and required her to receive transfusions for the rest of her life. Despite the illness, Breslin continued to remain active, learning to speak Italian, marrying filmmaker Anthony Dunne in 1994, contributing scripts for the television series NYPD Blue in 1993, and running a Web site called HauteDecor.com. She published her personal story about her struggle with the disease in 1997, and Not Exactly What I Had in Mind received wide critical praise. She was also the author, with Joshua Hammer, of Gerry!: A Woman Making History (1984). More recently, Breslin received awards in 2002 with her husband for the documentaries Women of Rockaway and A Smile Gone, But Where?, both of which concern the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, June 16, 2004, section 1, p. 9.

Los Angeles Times, June 16, 2004, p. B9.

New York Times, June 15, 2004, p. C17.

Washington Post, June 16, 2004, p. B7.