I'll Be Home , livre ebook

Praise for
I’LL BE HOME
“Jim McGrath was a great American voice, a no-nonsense journalist who wrote eloquently about intolerance, injustice, poverty, and corruption. He wasn’t afraid to tell the truth, and he did so masterfully. His work is inspiring, witty, profound, and kindhearted. No wonder so many held him in high esteem—even those he skewered.”
— Sam Roe, Chicago Tribune
“For me, Albany has always been home, and it was the great honor and privilege of my life to have been its mayor for twenty years. For Jim, Albany, became his adopted home, a place he loved and cared for as passionately as I did and that mutual love for this place was the bond we shared. Even when we disagreed, we respected each other’s commitment to our community and to its residents who relied on us in different, but equally important ways. And whether it was across the table at an editorial board meeting, or sharing a beverage at McGeary’s, Jim was never hesitant to speak truth to power. His writings, many of which I took issue with, always reflected his commitment to honesty, accuracy, and fairness. That commitment made Albany a better city and without question it made me a better mayor. This book bears witness to Jim’s legacy and to the impact he had on our community and on so many lives. It also serves as a testament to the vital role a great journalist plays in the vibrancy of our democratic process. The lessons to be learned here could not come at a better time. For all that we are in his debt.”
— Jerry Jennings, Mayor of Albany, 1994–2013
“Jim’s arguments were thoughtful and his writing was elegant. But what stands out most in this collection are his passion and his humanity. His passion for journalism. His passion for fairness. His passion for truth. He railed against injustice. He scoffed at heavy-handed politics. He spoke out on behalf of those who couldn’t speak for themselves. Even in print, you could see his arms waving in outrage as he called upon society to rectify another of its shortcomings.”
— Benjamin Weller, Newsday
I’ll Be Home
Jim on Duck Harbor Beach in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, on the far end of Cape Cod, September 2001. Jim and Darryl divided their honeymoon into two parts: Chicago in June 2001, and the Outer Cape in September 2001. Reading, mentally editing, and critiquing the local newspapers, no matter where he was, came naturally to Jim. Here, he is almost certainly studying the Cape Cod Times or the Boston Globe . Photograph by Darryl McGrath.
I’ll Be Home

T HE W RITINGS OF J IM M C G RATH
Edited by
Darryl McGrath and Howard Healy
Published by
S TATE U NIVERSITY OF N EW Y ORK P RESS , A LBANY
© 2019 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
E XCELSIOR E DITIONS IS AN IMPRINT OF S TATE U NIVERSITY OF N EW Y ORK P RESS
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: McGrath, Jim, 1957–2013, author. | McGrath, Darryl, 1957– editor. | Healy, Howard, 1941– editor.
Title: I’ll be home : the writings of Jim McGrath / edited by Darryl McGrath and Howard Healy.
Description: Albany : State University of New York, [2019] | Series: Excelsior editions
Identifiers: LCCN 2018027992| ISBN 9781438474229 (paperback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438474243 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: McGrath, Jim, 1957–2013. | Journalists—New York (State)—Albany—Biography.
Classification: LCC PN4874.M3725 A25 2019 | DDC 070.92 [B] —dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018027992
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His words conveyed beauty, passion, indignation, empathy, outrage, humor, and, ultimately, love.
—Darryl McGrath,
Albany author and journalist
In print he was thoughtful, generous, sympathetic, never cynical, and always laced with the wry wit he seemed to come by naturally.
—Fred LeBrun,
metro columnist and former reporter and
editor for the Albany Times Union
… many professional writers familiar with his work, myself included, often found themselves reading McGrath and muttering privately, “I wish I had written that.”
—Dan Lynch,
former managing editor and
columnist for the Albany Times Union
He could comment on almost any topic with clarity, concision, and lasting persuasiveness …
—Robert Whitcomb,
former editorial-page editor of the Providence Journal
Contents
Foreword: When the Newspaper Needed to Speak from Its Soul
Rex Smith
Introduction
Howard Healy
ALBANY
Introduction: The City That Jim Embraced
Howard Healy
The Race Is On in Albany, January 16, 1997
A Sad Note on Lark Street, February 19, 1997
Slayings Tarnish Soil of Albany’s Great Park, December 26, 1997
Drop This Case, April 27, 1998
Come Clean, Mr. Jennings, July 10, 1998
… A Defeat for the Machine, September 17, 1998
Albany’s Hot-Dog Politics, April 5, 1999
Justice for Ms. McEneny, May 7, 1999
Time to Right a Wrong: President Bush Should Award the Medal of Honor to Sergeant Henry Johnson, April 24, 2001
Renewing Democracy Is Humbling, September 28, 2001
Jennings, Who Else? November 4, 2001
Outsiders Defy Odds in Albany, November 10, 2001
Whose City Is It? May 10, 2002
Albany’s Anguish, January 3, 2004
It’s All about the Guns, June 18, 2008
Audit the Ghosts, January 20, 2009
Jerry Jennings’s Fifth Term, Fall 2009
Memories of Larks at a Tavern, May 6, 2011
POLITICS
Introduction: Jim McGrath Loved Politics
Howard Healy
LOCAL
Preaching to the Faithful, March 17, 1995
All Eyes on Albany, December 22, 1999
Uneasy Justice, December 29, 2003
NEW YORK
A Voting Outrage, May 19, 2001
Voter Beware, November 8, 2005
Transcript of As It Happens Interview on Eliot Spitzer’s Resignation, March 12, 2008
It’s Senator Clinton, November 8, 2000
NATIONAL
Farewell, Mister Speaker, January 9, 1994
Some Names Worth Hearing Once Again, November 16, 2002
INTERNATIONAL
A Chance for Peace in Ulster, May 22, 1997
Mr. Adams and Mr. Blair, December 20, 1997
Ireland’s Peace Must Prevail, August 20, 1998
George Mitchell, Peacemaker, October 22, 1998
Day of Terror, September 12, 2001
The Day After, September 13, 2001
Rising from the Ruins One Year Later, A Pause to Ponder How We Have Changed, September 11, 2002
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Introduction: A Certain Faith in Humanity
Bill Federman
More Unabomber Injustice, May 18, 1997
Cold Weather, Cold Truths, September 28, 1997
A Lesson Taught Too Late, July 20, 2001
Homeless in Albany, November 25, 2002
“No Room for Mercy,” September 5, 2003
Injustice, February 15, 2006
A Proud Day for New York, June 26, 2011
The World Owes So Much to Mandela, December 7, 2013
JOURNALISM
Introduction: McGrath Thought That Newspapers Ought to Tell the Truth
Dan Lynch
Royko Was the Real People’s Court, May 1, 1997
J. Anthony Lukas, June 10, 1997
Finding Fame in Telling Fibs, July 10, 1998
Mike Barnicle’s Sad Fall from Grace to Disgrace, August 8, 1998
Editorial and Op-Ed Page Critique of the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram , August 1999
Reality Check at Skidmore, November 16, 1999
SPORTS
Introduction: A Red Sox Fan Above All
Phillip Blanchard
Introduction: “Hey, Jim, How Does Yaz Spell His Name?”
Howard Healy
A Spectator’s View from the Seats, July 23, 1995
Stanford’s Band of Cruel Fools, October 15, 1997
Sox Appeal, June 20, 2004
Thanks for the Memories, February 20, 1999
How ’Bout Those Sawx? October 22, 2004
Why Didn’t He Do More? November 10, 2011
I’ll BE HOME
Introduction: A Man at Last at Peace with Himself
Darryl McGrath
Somebody’s Thinking of Charlie McGrath, June 20, 1993
A Road to New Hampshire, December 25, 1994
Soldiering On: Another Generation, Another War, Another Cause to Honor and Remember, May 26, 2002
“Journeys Like Mine Should Never Really End,” 2006
“I’ll Be Home”: Statement about My Work and My Goals, 2011
A Vanishing Call of the Wild, August 10, 2009
Boston, the Bulgers and Me, August 19, 2013
Small Town’s Appeal Crosses Generations: Cooperstown Sparks Musings of the Past and the Future, August 30, 2013
APPRECIATIONS
Jim McGrath’s Albany
Fred LeBrun
Jim McGrath: A Newspaperman
Robert Whitcomb
APPENDIX
Meet My Not-So-Silent Partner, June 11, 1996
Dan Lynch
Times Union Editorial Writer Appointed, November 7, 1996
Guild Mourns the Loss of Jim McGrath, September 5, 2013
McGrath’s Keen Eye, Passion Recalled: Times Union ’s Chief Editorial Writer, 56, Died While Vacationing, September 6, 2013
Steve Barnes
James M. McGrath, 1957–2013, September 8, 2013
Times Union Editorial Board
Obituary, September 12, 2013
Darryl McGrath
Eulogy, September 14, 2013
Darryl McGrath
Remembering Albany’s Voice of Reason, October 4, 2013
Lauren Mine