Newfield, Jack (Abraham) 1939-2004
NEWFIELD, Jack (Abraham) 1939-2004
OBITUARY NOTICE—
See index for CA sketch: Born February 18, 1939, in New York, NY; died of kidney cancer December 20, 2004, in New York, NY. Journalist and author. Newfield was best known as a liberal, muckraking reporter for the Village Voice. A 1961 graduate of what is now Hunter College of the City University of New York, he worked as a copy boy for the New York Daily Mirror and editor for the West Side News before being hired by the Village Voice in 1964. Newfield remained at the Village Voice until 1988, quickly developing a reputation as a champion for the downtrodden and the underdog. He exposed the misdeeds of city government, dishonest landlords, unsafe nursing homes, and corrupt union leadership, among many other causes. However, his obvious subjectivity sometimes drew criticism from those who felt journalists should be more objective. One of his most well-known acts was his successful campaign to have Bobby McLaughlin released from prison in 1986. McLaughlin had been convicted of murder, but Newfield was able to help uncover evidence of his innocence. After leaving the Village Voice, Newfield worked as an investigative reporter for the Daily News for three years, and for the New York Post from 1991 until 2001. In addition to politics and social causes, Newfield often wrote about baseball and boxing. He was the author of several books, including Robert Kennedy: A Memoir (1969; reprinted, 1988), Cruel and Unusual Justice (1974), the coauthored City for Sale: Ed Koch and the Betrayal of New York (1988), and The Full Rudy: The Man, the Mayor, the Myth (2003), as well as the autobiography Somebody's Gotta Tell It: The Upbeat Memoir of a Working-Class Journalist (2002). Newfield also wrote documentary scripts for television, including the 1991 Emmy Award-winning PBS program Don King: Unauthorized.
OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:
PERIODICALS
Chicago Tribune, December 22, 2004, section 1, p. 12.
Los Angeles Times, December 22, 2004, p. B8.
New York Times, December 22, 2004, p. C11.
Washington Post, December 23, 2004, p. B8.