Connecticut biz reporter French dies at 71

Howard French

Howard French, a longtime business reporter at the Journal Inquirer in Manchester, Connecticut, died Friday at age 71 after 34 years at the paper.

Alex Wood of the Journal Inquirer writes, “French had been the JI’s business reporter for many of those years, and Harlan Levy, who worked with him in covering business, praised his skill in the field.

“‘Howard was an integral member of the JI family who worked not only as a business reporter but also as a fill-in editor,’ JI News Editor Kimberly Phillips said. ‘Whenever he was asked to do something — edit a story, make a phone call, proofread a page — he never had an excuse why he couldn’t. He always obliged for the sake of the newsroom and played an important part in helping things run smoothly each day.

“‘He will be missed,’ she said.

“French had been filling in as an editor in the days before his death. He showed his usual sharp wit as he joked with reporters about stories, then moved those stories efficiently along the line toward publication.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.