Bob O’Brien, 1942-2018, a legendary television newsman and one heckuva great friend!

Bob O’Brien died this week. For decades, he was a top street reporter for WNEW-TV’s Ten O’Clock News in New York City.  A legendary, crazy, serious, fun, all-business, wild, family man and good friend to all of us.

We miss him but his spirit will live on.

Here's the obituary that ran in his new hometown in Virginia Beach.  Colorful as it is, it only begins to paint the full picture of this force of nature who influenced so many of us (after he retired from television news, he moved to Oregon and was elected town councilman!).  Thanks for the memory, OB.

Robert Eugene O’Brien Jr., 75, award-winning journalist

Robert Eugene O’Brien Jr.

Robert Eugene O’Brien Jr., 75, went to be with the Lord Tuesday, April 24, 2018.

Robert was born Aug. 22, 1942, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to the late Robert and Clare O’Brien. He graduated from Xavier University to go on to a full career in broadcast journalism in New York City. It was at Xavier that he met the love of his life, Veronica, whom he lovingly called “Ronnie Rose.”

He is best remembered in his illustrious journalistic career for interviewing numerous presidents and heads of state, as well as celebrated individuals from Groucho Marx to Gerry Adams. He covered the hunger strikes in Northern Ireland; the inaugural flight of the Concord; the passing of Princess Diana; and as a true Irishman, the annual New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade. His formidable career is memorialized by three Emmy awards.

Left to cherish his memory are his loving wife of 51 years, Veronica R. O’Brien; daughter, Samantha; son, Sean, and his wife, Katie; brother, Chris Ischay, and his wife, Linda Wolfson; and a wealth of nieces, nephews and friends he called family.

A funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m., Monday, April 30, at St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church, 5345 Virginia Beach Blvd, Virginia Beach, immediately followed by a wake at Buoy 44 restaurant, 4536 Ocean View Ave., Virginia Beach.

In lieu of flowers, the family appreciates donations made to Alzheimer’s Association: Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia at tmcfunding.com. At the end of the 30-day campaign, the family will present Alzheimer’s Association, Southeastern Virginia Chapter, with a check of all proceeds raised in the name of Robert Eugene O’Brien Jr.

Share online condolences with the family at altmeyerfh.com.

From TabloidBaby.com 2006

Chris Montez & Brian Wilson’s 50-year reunion: A clip from Burt Kearns’ Montez documentary is his latest exclusive on PleaseKillMe.com

A piece of rock ’n' roll history has been revealed this week, as music legends Brian Wilson and Chris Montez talk about their days at Hawthorne High in their first meeting in fifty years!

The story and video come from Burt Kearns, who's been better known for his documentary and television work the past two decades, but who recently has been exhibiting his writing chops on PleaseKillMe.com, his old pal Legs McNeil’s literary and pop culture website (in March, Burt and Jeff Abraham cooked up a much-lauded piece on sixties comedy album star and sexual revolutionary Rusty Warren).

The reunion took place during the filming of El Viaje Musicial de Ezekiel Montanez: The Chris Montez Story, the documentary that has shown up in a “preview form” at film festivals around the country.  The story on PleaseKillMe.com tells the story of the still-in-progress film work, what led to the reunion -- and even includes a cameo from Gary Busey.

Most impressive however, is the reunion film clip.

You can click here to see it on the Please Kill Me site.

(By the way,  'Please Kill Me’ is the name of the punk oral history written by Legs and Gillian McCain, which was recently released in a 20th anniversary edition and has been recognized and awarded as a modern literary classic.

Brian Wilson (second from left) onstage at Hawthorne High

Chris Montez returns to Hawthorne High with a film crew