Early obit from the Times Union:Jim McGrath, a lifelong journalist who had newspaper ink in his blood but who would have grimaced at the cliche, died suddenly Wednesday of a heart attack while vacationing on Cape Cod. He was 56 and had been the chief editorial writer of the Times Union since 1996.
Known equally for his keen political eye, for his love of the Red Sox of his native Boston and for the long-billed fisherman's cap that he invariably wore when not at work, McGrath was an exceptional figure on a contemporary editorial board. In room of groomed journalists in business wear interviewing similarly attired politicians or other leaders seeking blessing or forgiveness from the Times Union's editorial page, McGrath stood out. His beard bristled, his eyes squinted behind unstylish glasses, his speech stutter-started when making vigorous points and his hair fringed down in the back from a bald dome.
But that shiny head encased a brain acute with ideas and perspectives. His work won many journalism awards, including for the past nine years in a row.
He was also, when he penned the occasional personal column, a wordsmith of casual, gentle eloquence. Writing in the Times Union on Aug. 25 about a visit to Cooperstown for the wedding of friends, he connected the trip with first one he'd made to see the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame 45 years before, as a boy of 11: "It's time to celebrate. It's time to dream of all that awaits them. And for me, the temptation to drift back into old memories, some of them fuzzy and some of them surprisingly vivid, is both inevitable and irresistible."
McGrath loved journalism to the exclusion of most everything else except his wife, Darryl, his friends and sports.