Reporter Sheridan tough, but could ‘write like an angel’
DICK SHERIDAN, a longtime Daily News rewriteman and reporter whose knack for writing breaking news stories earned him the nickname “Disaster Dick,” died Saturday morning. He was 76. Sheridan was a gruff-voiced man with a generous heart and a mane of white hair that gave him a Mark Twain-like air.
He started his career at the Daily News in the late 1980s and spent most of his years there as a rewriteman, penning dozens of front-page stories for the paper.
In 1992, Sheridan led the coverage of the fiery USAir Flight 405 crash, in which 27 people lost their lives while taking off from LaGuardia Airport.
“He ran on that story like it was out of the breaking news textbook and pulled together an amazing package on deadline,” said Jere Hester, a former Daily News editor.
“I learned a lot from him about putting a story together while under the gun,” former Daily News rewriteman Corky Siemaszko said.
Sheridan came into the spotlight again in 1993, when fugitive George Cobo called him to confess to the slaying of a socialite Indian prince and his wife in their Upper West Side apartment.
Cobo and his partner, Tony Lee Simpson, were later convicted for the crimes.
Sheridan would go on to contribute to The News’ sports and business sections and the Sunday magazine until his departure in 2000.
“He was somebody who could curse like the devil but write like an angel,” Hester said.
Sheridan kicked off his career at United Press International, then wrote for several magazines before joining The News. He was also a skilled cartoonist whose work appeared in The New Yorker, Playboy and other publications.
Born on Christmas Day 1941, Sheridan grew up in New Hyde Park, L.I., but lived in Japan from ages 8 to 10, an experience that left him with a lifelong appreciation for Japanese cuisine.
A straight-A student, Sheridan served in the Navy from 1964 to 1968 on a ship patrolling the Mediterranean.
Sheridan is survived by his wife, Molly Colliton Sheridan; his children, Daily News head of video Michael Sheridan, Ian Sheridan and Maggie Ciardiello, and his grandchildren, Amanda, Michael, Emily and Jenny.
“My father was a writer, a joker and a one-time smoker,” said Michael Sheridan. “But more than that, he was a good man, a good dad, and a best friend who will be forever missed.”