: : : : 01/03/05Jack Peritz, '50
Crime Reporter
Jack Peritz, a longtime reporter who covered Queens for the Long Island Press and the New York Post, died of cancer Friday night at his home in Queens Village. He was 66.
Peritz covered several notable events and courtroom trials during his long career but perhaps his most famous front page story was a murder case in Manhattan headlined, "Headless Body Found in Topless Bar."
He was born in Brooklyn on Oct. 19, 1931, and grew up in Jamaica, Queens, where his father owned a newsstand. He graduated from Jamaica High School and attended Baruch School of City College. His education was interrupted when he served in the Coast Guard during the Korean War. He was stationed in a lighthouse in Maine.
Peritz graduated from Baruch School of City College in 1956 with a degree in public administration, the first person to receive such a degree. In 1958, he married the former Kathleen Gardella.
His first job was as a copy boy for the Long Island Press. He later became a reporter and then an editor for the paper. By the time the Press closed in 1977 he was city editor.
Peritz went to work for the New York Post shortly afterward, first as Queens section editor and then Queens bureau chief. He covered federal court in Brooklyn, the Board of Education and the courts in Queens. He was well-known by a number of Queens leaders, including Borough President Claire Shulman.
(Quoted from: "Reporter Jack Peritz Dies / Did `Headless Body in Topless Bar' story;
Newsday. Long Island, N.Y.: Jul 20, 1997. pg. A.27
: : : : 01/03/05