Westporter William Brink, Journalist, Dies at 89

Longtime Westporter William J. Brink, a former managing editor of The Daily News of New York who was responsible for one of the most memorable headlines in American journalism, FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD, died Friday in Norwalk, The New York Times reported today. He was 89.

The cause was congestive heart failure, his son William A. Brink said. Brink had lived for many years on Birchwood Lane.

Set in huge bold letters, the headline screamed across Page 1 of the paper on Oct. 30, 1975. In six taut syllables, it brought home its message with the power of a knockout punch: At the height of New York's fiscal crisis, President Gerald R. Ford had declined to bail the city out, the Times said.

Those six syllables, as Ford later acknowledged, almost certainly lost him New York State in his 1976 race against Jimmy Carter, and with it, the presidency.

Brink and his wife, the former Jenny Lou Dwyer, were married in 1947, and lived in Westport for the past 40 years.

Born in Indianapolis, Brink graduated from Indiana University in 1940 with a B.A. in journalism.

After serving in the Army Air Corps, he worked as a reporter and copy editor on the Indianapolis Star and as a rewrite man for United Press.

He joined Newsweek magazine, where he covered the Kennedy-Nixon campaign and rose to senior editor.

Brink arrived at The News in 1970 as assistant managing editor, and served as managing editor from 1974 until his retirement in 1981.

In addition to his wife and son, Brink is survived by three other sons, Timothy, John and Robert; and a brother, Paul.

Posted July 2, 2005 12:22 AM