Eric Malnic

Eric Malnic

Eric Malnic Dies at 73

Eric Malnic, whose five-decade career included work on the Times team that won a Pulitzer for its coverage of the 1965 Watts riots, died July 27, 2010. He was 73. Eric had suffered from cancer and from complications of surgery. He died at his home in Altadena, with his wife, Martha.

Eric began as a copy boy at the Times in 1958, was a beat reporter, an assistant Metro editor, and a superb rewrite man. Later he served as the paper's main reporter covering aviation disasters and airline safety, and at 53 obtained his license as a private pilot.

The Times obituary quoted Eric about his coverage of the Watts riots with photographer Cal Montney: "We were told by the police if we went in, we were on our own. The secret of success was never to stop. We ran all the red lights. If you stopped, people threw rocks. The car picked up three bullet holes.

"There were those reporters who were willing to cover it, and those who were not. I couldn't wait to get down there. You're immortal when you're 28. It didn't occur to me to get scared until it was all over."

Eric's obit, written by staffers Dennis McLellan and Elaine Woo, notes that "when Malnic retired from The Times in 2006, his farewell e-mail to his Metro colleagues was a brief -30-, the way journalists once signified the end of a story. He left the newsroom to a spontaneous standing ovation."

A memorial remembrance for Eric was held at the home of Michael and Nancy Harahan, close friends of the Malnic family, on Aug. 8.

Click to see Times obituary.

Click for tribute by 'On The Media' columnist James Rainey: "Malnic served as dogged reporter, master rewriter and finally, a beacon of what good journalism is all about."

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