Journalist and author Neal Hirschfeld, whose lifelong passion for writing and storytelling was on display in the pages of the New York Daily News for nearly 20 years, died on Monday.
He was 80.
No cause of death was given.
Hirschfeld covered the ever-active crime beat for The News, a natural fit given his gift for telling stories about interesting people and compelling events.
His work at The News and elsewhere earned many awards, including Columbia University’s Meyer “Mike” Berger Award for magazine articles about Vietnam veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress and about Ellis Island immigrants.
Hirschfeld also taught journalism at Columbia as an adjunct professor, in what was for him a kind of full-circle moment.
Years earlier, Columbia had rejected Hirschfeld’s graduate school application, even though he had graduated third in his class at New York University.
Hirschfeld soldiered on, receiving a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
He began his reporting career at the Buffalo News, before joining The News, where he spent 17 years.
Detective William Abromaitis, far left, gives a merit award to Neal Hirschfeld in 1983. (Joe McKenna / New York Daily News)
After Hirschfeld left The News, he turned his attention to screenwriting. He wrote screenplays under contract to Warner Bros., Tri-Star Films, HBO Showcase and Universal Television. The writer also produced freelance features for magazines and newspapers, including The Guardian and The New York Times, as well as three nonfiction books, including one with ties to his crime coverage.
His book “Detective: The Inspirational Story of the Trailblazing Woman Cop Who Wouldn’t Quit” was co-authored with Kathy Burke, the most highly decorated woman in the New York City Police Department’s history,
Hirschfeld also wrote “Homicide Cop,” which profiled Detective Carolann Natale, one of the first women detectives in the New York Police Department assigned to homicide investigations.
In 1997 Hirschfeld married Janet Parker. After 10 years together, they relocated to Portland, Ore. They divorced in 2024 and he returned to his beloved New York.
Once he settled back in, he taught himself Spanish and embarked on his next challenge, writing fiction.
At the time of his death, Hirschfeld was working on a crime thriller.