By Marie Morelli and Renée K. Gadoua
We pause to remember longtime Syracuse journalist Larry Dietrich, who died on July 20, 2021. He was 64.
We who knew Larry professionally over his 32 years at the Syracuse Newspapers, and later at the Syracuse New Times, knew him as the calm eye in the hurricane of deadline; a student of history who could place current events in their proper context; a stickler for precise language and correct grammar; an evangelist for the role of a free press in a democratic society; and an ardent proponent of free speech.
One of his last acts as New Times editor was to republish the controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed that led Muslim extremists to murder 12 people at the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. Most mainstream news outlets declined to show them for fear of offending readers.
Larry believed his readers deserved to know what the killing was about, even if it offended them. “It might be the work I’m most proud of,” he wrote on Facebook five years later.
After a near-fatal illness ended Larry’s journalism career, social media became an outlet for him to continue the pursuit of truth and connection with lifelong friends and colleagues.
Larry Dietrich was devoted to his three children, the Buffalo Bills, the Adirondack Mountains, the sport of hockey and the craft of journalism.
Our profession is poorer for his absence.