Longtime Ohio biz journalist dies at 66

Homer Brickey Jr., a longtime business journalist for the Toledo Blade, died Saturday from a brain tumor. He was 66.

Mark Zaborney of the Blade writes, “Mr. Brickey wrote a weekly business column for nearly two decades — amassing more than 800 columns, he estimated in the final regular column on Dec. 30, 2008. The column allowed him to express his opinion on the wide variety of topics he found interesting and useful to readers.

“‘I don’t give two figs about GATT, GAAP, FASB, ERISA, TEFRA, CAFE, COLA, FEMA, TARP, HIPPA, or OPRAH, and I didn’t write columns about any of those,’ he said in his last column. ‘Instead, most of my columns have been on things I do care about — youngsters and their future, entrepreneurs, inventors, the rise and fall of the downtown, bull-and-bear markets, cars, Toledo’s long [and sometimes glorious] business history, and struggling start-up owners as well as Fortune 500 bigwigs. Oh, and also characters and crooks, geniuses and bozos of the business world.’

“Blade Business Editor Greg Braknis said Mr. Brickey’s column in the newspaper was a reader favorite.

“‘Homer had an amazing knowledge of Toledo, its history, and its people, and it was the backbone of his reporting and writing,’ Mr. Braknis said. ‘He always saw the best side of things, and could write a column woven in everyday folksiness that would make you laugh or just feel better about life. … Blade readers lost a huge voice when Homer retired and now the city has lost a wonderful person.'”

Read more here. In 2008, Brickey wrote to Talking Biz News after his retirement.