I want to thank a friend of mine for bringing Dennis Hamill around today.

Dennis is the younger brother of Pete Hamill, who was the quintessential New York newspaper editor.

We spoke of Pete and New York newspapers with the same reverence since it appears the newspapers are also on their way to a better place.

From my perspective Pete had no ego, which is a rare commodity in an editor. He was open to all takes on a story providing you could supply the needed information to support your case.

However, Pete would not tolerate sloppy writing.

He would say, “Why is your lead in the third paragraph?” Or, “Why is the kicker in the fifth paragraph?”

Give the reader the news in a concise matter with the best writing you can provide. That was Pete’s mandate.

I was happy I could offer my condolences to Dennis given the Covid-19 times we live in. Because any other time we would all have been in the biggest cathedral in Brooklyn on Saturday to honor this great man’s passing.