Heffernan, William Michael
William Michael Heffernan, age 80, passed away peacefully on December 4, 2020 at 11:04 am in Annapolis, MD surrounded by family.
From The Home News of New Brunswick, New Jersey and the Buffalo Courier Express, he rose to be one of New York City’s most respected investigative reporters working for the New York Daily News and New York Post. He penned major investigative stories including an expose regarding children denied adoption opportunities because agencies wished to maintain a high level of city, state and federal support payments for their care in orphanages; bank and smuggling heists; Son of Sam murders; jailbreaks and many other stories. He was nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting, including an honorable mention in 1973 for an investigation on city corruption, two Heywood Broun Awards, a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, and many local, state and regional awards. Bill left journalism in 1978 after receiving his first book contract with Crown Publishers for the novel Broderick. He continued to write 19 additional novels, landing on the NY Times Best Seller list for his generation novel The Corsican.
Bill was cremated at John M. Taylor Funeral Home and his ashes will be spread by his family at his favorite locations during a memorial gathering at a later date. He is survived by his six children, eight grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. To view Bill’s memorial in full, please visit www.facebook.com/william.heffernan.98