Former S.F. Examiner writer P.J. Corkery diesBy Kevin Fagan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
P.J. Corkery, the dapper, quick-witted former columnist for the San Francisco Examiner, died Saturday at Stanford Hospital after fighting non-Hodgkins lymphoma for two years. He was 61.
He spent most of his final two years co-writing "Basic Brown," the autobiography of former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, who called that collaboration one of the high points of his life.
"I never had so much fun as when we worked on that book together," Brown said Tuesday. "The fact that he had such a wealth of knowledge and was able to recall it was amazing."
Mr. Corkery wrote his Examiner column between 2001 and 2006, and in that time he became a fixture on the city's social and political scene. Always in a suit with cane in his hand, he made the rounds of parties, cafes and street corners to pick up tips on everything from the latest power-broker spats to the plight of the down and out.
"He was from Boston, but when he got here he acquired a San Francisco character, look and reputation," recalled former city Supervisor Angela Alioto. "I'd see him and say, 'Hey, you're looking San Franciscan,' and he'd answer, 'Who loves ya, baby.' He was such an interesting guy."
Born Paul Jerome Corkery in Boston, he grew up in Massachusetts and earned a bachelor's degree in history at Harvard in 1968. After serving a Knox Fellowship at Cambridge University in England, he began his lifelong career in journalism with stints at Boston Magazine and the Boston Phoenix, where he became editor in chief.
In 1979, he moved to Los Angeles to become an assistant editor at the now-defunct
Herald Examiner. He worked there until 1983, then spent many years writing articles for publications including TV Guide, Rolling Stone, Harpers, the New Republic and Vanity Fair. He also wrote a biography of talk show host Johnny Carson.
Mr. Corkery moved to New York briefly, but it was only after settling in San Francisco in 1988 that he felt he had found his true home, friends recalled.
After the San Francisco Examiner was sold to the Florence Fang family in 2000, Mr. Corkery was hired in 2001 to write a column in the style of the late Herb Caen. He left the paper in 2003 after a dispute with Florence Fang. He sued her for $2.4 million for wrongful termination, and the case was settled out of court. He returned in 2004 to the Examiner under new ownership.
"P.J. could write anything from social events to homeless issues," said Examiner Executive Editor Jim Pimentel. "He had a great sense of San Francisco and will be sorely missed."
Mr. Corkery's affection for the city was unabashed. In one 2002 ode to Christmas, he wrote that "The folks in this town ... make us shout, 'Gawd, I love this city!' "
"He hung out at our cafe every day, and I once asked him why he loved our folks so much," said Mimi Silbert, co-founder of Delancey Street, a drug rehabilitation program. "His answer was: 'I love them because they take life and change so seriously, but they never take themselves seriously.' "
In 2006, Mr. Corkery left the Examiner to co-write ex-mayor Brown's autobiography, which was released last winter to favorable reviews.
Mr. Corkery's longtime companion, Martha Smilgis, attributed Mr. Corkery's prolific career to his passion for words.
"He had the gift of the gab, and he was a born Irish writer," she said. "It was in his blood."
Mr. Corkery is survived by Smilgis, of Santa Barbara; three brothers, James and Joe Corkery of Boston and Thomas Corkery of Oregon; and a sister, Maureen Abate Corkery of Boston.
Services are pending.
Donations may be made to the Stanford Cancer Center, 875 Blake Wilbur Dr., Stanford, CA 94305.
E-mail Kevin Fagan at kfagan@sfchronicle.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...9/24/BA82133MP3.DTLThis article appeared on page B - 9 of the San Francisco Chronicle
