Former NY Post, LA Herald Examiner biz editor dies at 80

Jack Searles, the former business editor of the New York Post and the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, has died at the age of 80, according to a post on an LA Times blog.

His son, Michael Searles, writes, “When the Mirror folded, Jack went to work for the L.A. Times as a general assignment reporter. Always somewhat restless, he left The Times and spent a year working for the San Diego Union. He then returned to The Times for several years.
 
“In 1963, he picked up and moved to New York to accept a position as business editor of the New York Post. Soon, he was drawn back to L.A. taking over as business editor for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner from 1964 until sometime in the early 1980s. He stayed with the paper during the turbulent strike years.

“When he left the Herald he very briefly dipped his toes in public relations, accepting a personal services contract with Armand Hammer, head of L.A.-based Occidental Petroleum. Hammer and Jack quickly realized that he was not built to be a PR man, so Hammer allowed Jack to finish off his contract by completing a Master of Arts in Journalism at UCLA during the brief period when UCLA offered such a degree.”

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