Boyle, ex-AP bureau chief

NEW YORK – Samuel J Boyle, who in two decades as chief of The Associated Press’ New York City bureau oversaw the news organisation’s coverage of high-profile events from elections and gangster trials to the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre, died on Sunday.

He died at home after a long battle with lung cancer. He was 59.Boyle was born on September 25 1948, into a distinguished Philadelphia newspaper family.His father, Samuel, was a revered editor.His younger brother Bill died last September 8, also of cancer, after a career that included editorships in Philadelphia and 21 years at New York’s Daily News, where he was senior managing editor.Boyle joined the AP in Newark, New Jersey, in 1971, transferred to the Philadelphia bureau a year later and over the next seven years moved from AP’s business desk to the national desk at New York headquarters, and then to deputy sports editor, involved in Olympics and Super Bowl coverage.In 1981, Boyle was appointed chief of bureau for West Virginia, and the following year he was named bureau chief in New York City, running a large staff whose dual mission is covering local news and explaining Gotham to the world.Over the next 21 years he supervised coverage of such headline events as the Bernard Goetz subway shootings, the rise and fall of mobster John Gotti, City Hall under mayors Ed Koch, David Dinkins and Rudolph Giuliani, the renovation of raunchy Times Square, the crash of TWA Flight 800 and the World Trade Centre attacks in 1993 and 2001.”Sam was an old-fashioned, hard-nosed newspaperman who thrived on the raucous, anything-can-happen atmosphere that makes New York City a unique place for news,” said Mike Silverman, AP’s senior managing editor.”But as much as he loved a big story, his allegiance first and foremost was to his staff.”When terrorist-hijacked jetliners destroyed the WTC’s twin towers, Boyle managed the NYC bureau through its most tumultuous day ever, co-ordinating main stories and sidebars from staffers at desks and in the streets, even taking dictation by telephone.It was not the relaxed, somewhat diffident Boyle that his colleagues generally saw.Boyle’s penchant for hands-on reporting could be irrepressible on a major story.”You knew when he was interested in a story, because Sam would suddenly pop out of his office – loping across the newsroom, staring over your shoulder at the copy, inevitably dictating a few sentences as you sat banging on the keyboard,” said Larry McShane, a former AP reporter, now at the Daily News.Boyle also was known for backing his employees in disputes with officials and others, and was an early proponent of news cameras in courtrooms.Boyle, an avid bicyclist and scuba diver, retired from the AP in 2004 and went to work at Columbia two years later, first as an editor in the school’s Columbia News Service course and later teaching fundamental reporting and writing.He was “a thoughtful, magnanimous teacher who combined tough love with just plain love” and quickly won the hearts of his students, said professor David Klatell, chairman of International Studies at the journalism school.With his wife, Boyle was active in animal rescue projects, finding homes for strays and adopting half a dozen dogs, including some older ones.Nampa-APHe was 59.Boyle was born on September 25 1948, into a distinguished Philadelphia newspaper family.His father, Samuel, was a revered editor.His younger brother Bill died last September 8, also of cancer, after a career that included editorships in Philadelphia and 21 years at New York’s Daily News, where he was senior managing editor.Boyle joined the AP in Newark, New Jersey, in 1971, transferred to the Philadelphia bureau a year later and over the next seven years moved from AP’s business desk to the national desk at New York headquarters, and then to deputy sports editor, involved in Olympics and Super Bowl coverage.In 1981, Boyle was appointed chief of bureau for West Virginia, and the following year he was named bureau chief in New York City, running a large staff whose dual mission is covering local news and explaining Gotham to the world.Over the next 21 years he supervised coverage of such headline events as the Bernard Goetz subway shootings, the rise and fall of mobster John Gotti, City Hall under mayors Ed Koch, David Dinkins and Rudolph Giuliani, the renovation of raunchy Times Square, the crash of TWA Flight 800 and the World Trade Centre attacks in 1993 and 2001.”Sam was an old-fashioned, hard-nosed newspaperman who thrived on the raucous, anything-can-happen atmosphere that makes New York City a unique place for news,” said Mike Silverman, AP’s senior managing editor.”But as much as he loved a big story, his allegiance first and foremost was to his staff.”When terrorist-hijacked jetliners destroyed the WTC’s twin towers, Boyle managed the NYC bureau through its most tumultuous day ever, co-ordinating main stories and sidebars from staffers at desks and in the streets, even taking dictation by telephone.It was not the relaxed, somewhat diffident Boyle that his colleagues generally saw.Boyle’s penchant for hands-on reporting could be irrepressible on a major story.”You knew when he was interested in a story, because Sam would suddenly pop out of his office – loping across the newsroom, staring over your shoulder at the copy, inevitably dictating a few sentences as you sat banging on the keyboard,” said Larry McShane, a former AP reporter, now at the Daily News.Boyle also was known for backing his employees in disputes with officials and others, and was an early proponent of news cameras in courtrooms.Boyle, an avid bicyclist and scuba diver, retired from the AP in 2004 and went to work at Columbia two years later, first as an editor in the school’s Columbia News Service course and later teaching fundamental reporting and writing.He was “a thoughtful, magnanimous teacher who combined tough love with just plain love” and quickly won the hearts of his students, said professor David Klatell, chairman of International Studies at the journalism school.With his wife, Boyle was active in animal rescue projects, finding homes for strays and adopting half a dozen dogs, including some older ones.Nampa-AP