Richard “Dick” Griffin, the financial editor at the Chicago Daily News for 13 years, died last week at the age of 76, according to a Chicago Tribune story.
Trevor Jensen writes, “Mr. Griffin ran the Daily News’ financial pages from 1963 to 1976. With former Daily News reporter Rob Warden, he edited a collection of the newspaper’s dispatches titled ‘Done in a Day: 100 Years of Great Writing From the Chicago Daily News,’ which was published in 1977.
“In the late 1960s, he started Winners and Losers, a column that rounded up the best and worst performers on Wall Street during the previous week, said Steve Yahn, a business reporter under Mr. Griffin. The column pioneered a form that has become common over the years, Yahn said.
“‘He was a lovely guy,’Â Yahn said. ‘He had a lot of style. He dressed well. People were very proud he was our business editor.’
“Warden, assistant financial editor from 1968-69, recalled Mr. Griffin’s rejection of the reporter’s resignation letter.
“‘He was a perfectionist and quite a taskmaster,’ he said.
“Mr. Griffin left the Daily News in 1976 to become Midwest editor for Fortune magazine.”
Read more here. Griffin was president of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers in 1975.
