Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Jimmy Breslin dies at 88

Jimmy Breslin, the brash newspaper columnist who covered his hometown of New York City for several decades, died Sunday of pneumonia. He was 88.

Breslin authored more than 20 books and was a longtime columnist for the New York Daily News. "Jimmy Breslin was a furious, funny, outrageous, and caring voice of the people who made newspaper writing into literature," said Arthur Browne, editor-in-chief of the Daily News. He reported from Vietnam, was at the Ambassador Hotel in 1968 when Robert Kennedy was assassinated, became pen pals with the Son of Sam, and won a Pulitzer Prize in the 1980s for a series of columns that brought to light several scandals, including the use of stun guns on jailed suspects by one NYPD precinct.

Breslin, who also won a Polk Award, is survived by his second wife, Ronnie Eldridge, four children, three stepchildren, and 12 grandchildren. His first wife and two of his daughters preceded him in death. Catherine Garcia

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