Paul Driscoll, an Associated Press journalist and newsroom leader who covered the civil rights movement and 1968 Democratic National Convention protests in Chicago, died Friday. He was 91.
He died at his home in Cadyville, New York, with his wife of 35 years, retired AP journalist Lindsey Tanner, holding his hand. He was diagnosed with bladder cancer in July and had entered hospice care earlier this month, Tanner said.
Driscoll was the day supervisor in the AP’s Chicago bureau in the late 1970s and early 1980s when the bureau didn’t have a news editor. This made him the day-to-day leader in the newsroom at a time when the city produced a steady flow of major news, said John Dowling, his former colleague and a retired AP editor.
Driscoll was known for being unflappable, calm and having a good sense of humor, said Tanner, who met him when she joined the bureau. Tanner recalled the story of a correspondent in Champaign, Illinois, who called Driscoll one day to make a complaint.
“Paul listened to him quietly for a little bit and said, ‘You know, I’m really sorry, but I’ve got to go. There’s a plane crash at O’Hare,’” Tanner said. “So he did his job and he tried to still be civil with the people that he worked with.”
Dowling said Driscoll treated colleagues with kindness and respect and they respected his judgment and common sense.
“Paul was a leader in the newsroom without being a boss,” Dowling wrote in an email, adding Driscoll put his colleagues in a position to succeed. “He epitomized the people who make the AP report happen every day without ever being at center stage.”
Sarah Nordgren, a retired AP deputy managing editor, remembered Driscoll as a patient but demanding editor who pushed her toward better reporting, smarter quotes and the right story structure.
“Paul was an elegant editor and mentor,” Nordgren said, adding he was a smart, funny leader and a kind man.
Driscoll was born in Elmhurst, Illinois, on October 4th, 1933. He spent most of his life in the Chicago area but moved to Three Oaks, Michigan, in 2017 and then to northern New York in 2023 when Tanner retired from the AP.
Driscoll is survived by Tanner; their son, daughter-in-law and two granddaughters aged 6 and 3; and two brothers. His older son from a previous relationship died in 2019.