Anthony Insolia, longtime Newsday editor, dies at 98

Anthony E. Insolia, the former Newsday editor who led teams that won seven Pulitzer Prizes and shepherded the paper into a new era, died Saturday in Philadelphia, his family said.

He was 98.

During his 32-year career at Newsday, Insolia oversaw investigative stories on a range of topics, from political corruption to tracing the flow of heroin from poppy fields in Turkey to suburbs on Long Island.

Colleagues past and present memorialized Insolia as a dogged journalist of a bygone era and a leader who instilled confidence in a generation of up-and-coming reporters and editors.

“For fresh young reporters, working with Tony was a master class in how to get and tell a story,” said Rita Ciolli, editor of Newsday's editorial pages. “And to do it honestly. If you did that, he always had your back.”

“He was a good, old-fashioned newspaperman who demanded you stick to the story and don’t go off on your personal whims,” recalled Jim Klurfeld, a former Newsday editorial page editor who worked closely with Insolia.

Anthony Marro, who succeeded Insolia as editor after he retired in 1987, remembered his colleague as an influential mentor.

“He used to say, ‘I’m skeptical by nature, but argumentative by choice.’ He was great to work for. He trusted his reporters,” Marro, 82, recalled in a phone interview Saturday. “You never had to worry about Tony doing something to please an advertiser or a politician. He was always just after the news, as straight as it was.”

Phyllis Singer, a retired features editor, similarly remembered Insolia as “a force” in the newsroom: demanding, yet fair.

“Tony gave a whole generation of young editors and reporters a chance to make Newsday a great paper, winning multiple Pulitzer Prizes, letting us take chances and move the paper forward from its already strong roots,” Singer said. “He was always proud of his newsroom.”

Born in Tuckahoe on Feb. 7, 1926, Insolia joined the Army and served as a staff sergeant in occupied Germany in 1945 and 1946. Upon returning home, he studied at New York University and began his career in journalism.

Insolia started as a reporter, working at the Yonkers Times, Park Row News Service and Stamford Advocate before joining Newsday in 1955.

But his love affair with the printed word began much earlier. At 13, Insolia’s first newspaper gig was selling, then delivering them. 

In 1977, Insolia edited The Arizona Project, a collaborative effort of reporters from across the country who probed the murder of Don Bolles, an investigative reporter for the Arizona Republic. The effort uncovered links between state corruption and organized crime.

Former Newsday writer and editor Steve Wick recalled meeting Insolia in Phoenix. At the time, Wick was a young reporter from Colorado Springs who joined the project. A year later, Insolia called with a job offer, launching what would also be a decadeslong career at Newsday for Wick.

“He was remarkably talented and incredibly decent,” Wick recalled. “He cared about journalism, cared about stories … He’s among those pioneers that made Newsday the really great paper that it was then and remains to this day.”

Insolia helped propel Newsday to new heights during his run as editor.

Former colleague Howard Schneider, who succeeded Marro as Newsday editor and is now the executive director of the Center for News Literacy at the Stony Brook University School of Journalism, said Insolia had “enormous pride” in the paper.

“Tony was part of a generation of editors who helped transform Newsday from a good local paper into a nationally recognized regional paper,” Schneider said.

Under his watch, the process of publishing a newspaper also changed. “I remember he was so excited when newspapers got computers, and they were able to file stories electronically,” said his son, Robert, of Bedford.

Family members remembered Insolia as a man with integrity who believed people were inherently good and had little tolerance for dishonesty in his private and professional life. They also saw another side to Insolia: a practical jokester who would dispense wisdom and witticisms, some too colorful to print.

His daughter Janet Insolia remembers one most vividly, and said he was still delivering it as recently as last week.

“Nobody’s perfect. I think I made a mistake once,” he’d say.

Robert Insolia said his father strongly believed in right and wrong. As most parents would, he urged his children to stay out of trouble. The message carried a stern warning.

“He told us: If you get arrested, or in trouble for something, it’s going to be printed in the paper, because that’s what we’d do for the town supervisor’s kid,” he recalled, chuckling.

After retiring from Newsday in 1987, Insolia split time between South Carolina and Lewes, Delaware, before moving to Philadelphia to be closer to family.

Robert Insolia said his father was a doting grandfather and avid golfer who loved vacationing and teeing off in Martha’s Vineyard.

Words always remained close to his heart.

Each morning, Robert Insolia, his two sisters and their dad would share their results of playing The New York Times Spelling Bee, a puzzle in which players create words using seven letters that must use the center letter at least once.

“My dad would work on it throughout the day, and more often than not did better than any of us. And that’s at 98,” Robert said.

In addition to Janet and Robert Insolia, Anthony Insolia is survived by his wife, Jean; daughter Anne Smyers, of Reston, Virginia; two stepchildren, Robin Ireland, of Philadelphia, and David Uris, of Walker, Minnesota; nine grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and his brother Richard Insolia, of New Rochelle. He was predeceased by his first wife, Joyce Spencer.

A memorial is being planned for a later date, his daughter said.