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| ABOVE AND BEYOND: This photo of onetime Record reporter Elaine D'Aurizio appeared on the sides of buses in northern New Jersey to promote her Above and Beyond column about the heroics of first responders. |
-- HACKENSACK, N.J.
Editor's note: I've updated this post with mention of one of the biggest stories Elaine D'Aurizio worked on -- Dorothy Rapp using the battered-woman's defense after being charged with murder.
By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR
Elaine D'Aurizio's last bylines as a reporter for The Record of Woodland Park appeared in 2010 over local news stories and traffic accidents.
They were a far cry from the column she wrote for about a decade, celebrating the heroics of first responders in northern New Jersey.
Her column, Above and Beyond, anticipated popular TV shows about firefighters and other first responders.
She was the first and so far the last woman to write a news column at The Record, where her career spanned more than 30 years.
Previously, she worked in the features department of the Herald-News.
D'Aurizio, who lived alone in Wayne, died last Wednesday, and was laid to rest on Saturday after a funeral Mass at a Roman Catholic church in Wayne. She was 76.
Stripped of column
Francis "Frank" Scandale, who was editor of The Record at the time, took away Elaine's column, as well as the only columns written by Hispanic and black staffers.
She was demoted to reporter, and her annual salary was slashed by $10,000.
In March 2011, the Eye on The Record blog reported on a pattern that developed in the newsroom under then-Publisher Stephen A. Borg:
Another tribute came from Ellen O'Brien:
Dorothy Rapp
Elaine knocked herself out on many of the stories and columns she worked on, but her profile of Dorothy Rapp stands out.
Mrs. Rapp was represented by attorney Frank P. Lucianna of Hackensack after she was arrested on charges that she murdered her husband in their Fair Lawn home.
Here is how attorney Kevin G. Roe, Lucianna's law clerk at the time, tells it:
More Gannett cuts
Gannett Co., owner of USA Today, The Record and 108 other local news outlets, will undergo another corporate restructuring that will result in the elimination of "less than 1%" of employees, USA Today reported on Wednesday.
A decline in revenue from print advertising was cited.
Gannett employed 17,100 in the United States and 3,900 outside the country, so the reduction could result in the loss of about 210 jobs, USA Today reported.
It's not known whether any of the new cuts will be made at The Record.
Gannett cut more than 350 jobs at North Jersey Media Group, publisher of The Record and Herald News, after buying the publishing company from the Borg family in July 2016.
Record columnists
Fewer columns by Mike Kelly and John Cichowski have been appearing in the print edition.
Two Kelly columns on 9/11 appear today on the front page and Opinion front in anticipation of Monday's 16th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America.
They are the first since Aug. 20, when Kelly's column appeared under this headline:
On Aug. 24, Cichowski, the so-called commuting columnist, wrote about a doomed legislative proposal to train parents to teach their teenagers how to drive.
Bill Ervolino
Meanwhile, Bill Ervolino was assigned to write a tribute to Jerry Lewis after the comedian died last month, but the veteran columnist couldn't resist making it all about himself.
On Aug. 21, in his lead paragraphs on Page 1 of The Record, Ervolino recalled he prepared to interview Lewis in 1988 by watching a dozen or so of his films and hours of his TV show.
But the comic genius (Lewis, not Ervolino) cancelled the day before.
Nearly 30 years later, Ervolino still can't get over that.
Elaine D'Aurizio's last bylines as a reporter for The Record of Woodland Park appeared in 2010 over local news stories and traffic accidents.
They were a far cry from the column she wrote for about a decade, celebrating the heroics of first responders in northern New Jersey.
Her column, Above and Beyond, anticipated popular TV shows about firefighters and other first responders.
She was the first and so far the last woman to write a news column at The Record, where her career spanned more than 30 years.
Previously, she worked in the features department of the Herald-News.
D'Aurizio, who lived alone in Wayne, died last Wednesday, and was laid to rest on Saturday after a funeral Mass at a Roman Catholic church in Wayne. She was 76.
Stripped of column
Francis "Frank" Scandale, who was editor of The Record at the time, took away Elaine's column, as well as the only columns written by Hispanic and black staffers.
She was demoted to reporter, and her annual salary was slashed by $10,000.
In March 2011, the Eye on The Record blog reported on a pattern that developed in the newsroom under then-Publisher Stephen A. Borg:
Health deteriorates
The demotion and pay cut were bad enough, but as Elaine's health deteriorated, male newsroom editors started playing hardball.
Elaine had myasthenia gravis, which is characterized by weakness and rapid fatigue of any of the muscles under your voluntary control, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Her vision was affected, and she had difficulty driving at night.
Still, Frank Burgos, who was managing editor under Scandale, threatened to fire her unless she returned to work from disability leave.
And when she did return, she was assigned to cover council meetings, even though she had difficulty driving at night.
And when she did return, she was assigned to cover council meetings, even though she had difficulty driving at night.
James McGarvey and Claude Deltieure, two other editors, also mistreated her, former staffers say.
After she left The Record, she stopped driving altogether.
After she left The Record, she stopped driving altogether.
She 'wrote with heart'
After visiting hours at Moore's Home for Funerals in Wayne on Friday, a former Record staffer had this to say:
"Nice to see a good number of former colleagues paying their respects to Elaine D'Aurizio. Elaine was a throwback -- a hardworking, no-nonsense, gumshoe reporter who wrote with heart, and kept at it well past the traditional retirement age. Her Above and Beyond column paid tribute to first responders and other heroes. Elaine was one of the Record's legendary characters -- and a wonderful person, too."
Virginia Rohan of Ringwood, another former newsroom staffer, wrote in the funeral home's guestbook:
"Rest In Peace, Elaine. A great lady and a great reporter, who did so many great columns and stories. But it's a funny one that I particularly remember, because you had us in stitches recalling your time riding around Hoboken in a limo -- with Fabio!"
Another tribute came from Ellen O'Brien:
"Elaine was a beautiful and generous person. I worked with her at The Record for several years and I was always impressed by her hard work, humor, and passionate engagement with life. And she covered her beat like nobody's business.... May she dance with the angels this day and always."
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| Attorneys Kevin G. Roe, left, and Frank P. Lucianna flanking murder defendant Dorothy Rapp in Superior Court in Hackensack (photo from the office of Kevin G. Roe). |
Dorothy Rapp
Elaine knocked herself out on many of the stories and columns she worked on, but her profile of Dorothy Rapp stands out.
Mrs. Rapp was represented by attorney Frank P. Lucianna of Hackensack after she was arrested on charges that she murdered her husband in their Fair Lawn home.
Here is how attorney Kevin G. Roe, Lucianna's law clerk at the time, tells it:
"On March 26, 1981, Dorothy Rapp was pulled from her bed and mercilessly beaten. Her assailant was her husband who ripped clumps of hair from her head and threatened her life, allegedly because she did not complete a household task. Ms. Rapp then shot and killed her husband. She was subsequently charged with murder.
"At trial, Hackensack attorney Frank P. Lucianna introduced evidence showing that Ms. Rapp was the victim of a decades-long abusive relationship, and that the trauma she experienced that night was not unlike many other nights in her marriage.
"He was assisted by his law clerk, Kevin G. Roe, who conducted research of cases nationwide and authored a brief demonstrating that the defense of battered-woman syndrome should be allowed at trial.
"For the first time in the State of New Jersey, [Superior Court Judge Fred C. Galda] allowed the so-called battered-woman’s defense, in which a victim of domestic violence who suffers from a long term-pattern of abuse may claim self-defense when it is apparent that person is unable effectively escape.
"After deliberating for two hours, a jury acquitted Ms. Rapp of murder. The case stands as a landmark in New Jersey law and the law of self-defense."
More Gannett cuts
Gannett Co., owner of USA Today, The Record and 108 other local news outlets, will undergo another corporate restructuring that will result in the elimination of "less than 1%" of employees, USA Today reported on Wednesday.
A decline in revenue from print advertising was cited.
Gannett employed 17,100 in the United States and 3,900 outside the country, so the reduction could result in the loss of about 210 jobs, USA Today reported.
It's not known whether any of the new cuts will be made at The Record.
Gannett cut more than 350 jobs at North Jersey Media Group, publisher of The Record and Herald News, after buying the publishing company from the Borg family in July 2016.
Record columnists
Fewer columns by Mike Kelly and John Cichowski have been appearing in the print edition.
Two Kelly columns on 9/11 appear today on the front page and Opinion front in anticipation of Monday's 16th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America.
They are the first since Aug. 20, when Kelly's column appeared under this headline:
"So, who is the United States
fighting this week?"
On Aug. 24, Cichowski, the so-called commuting columnist, wrote about a doomed legislative proposal to train parents to teach their teenagers how to drive.
Bill Ervolino
Meanwhile, Bill Ervolino was assigned to write a tribute to Jerry Lewis after the comedian died last month, but the veteran columnist couldn't resist making it all about himself.
On Aug. 21, in his lead paragraphs on Page 1 of The Record, Ervolino recalled he prepared to interview Lewis in 1988 by watching a dozen or so of his films and hours of his TV show.
But the comic genius (Lewis, not Ervolino) cancelled the day before.
Nearly 30 years later, Ervolino still can't get over that.
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