Remembering Joe Hamill

Services took place in Brooklyn yesterday for Joe Hamill, the beloved journalist and producer who died on Martin Luther King Day.

Joe was 51. His heart and body simply gave out after a rough and wonderful life that left many friends around the world, a renowned band of brothers and a fine teenage son named Padraic.

Sad reaction to Joe’s death has come in, here on the Tabloid Baby blog, in emails and phone calls to the Tabloid Baby offices, from New York and Los Angeles, of course, but also from places as farflung as Washington State, Montana, Sydney and Jerusalem.

Joe left his mark. Words we've heard, like “special” and “brilliant” and “wonderful” and “warm,” just go toward building the picture. Ah, Joe was a good guy. He was a pro. He started as a New York Daily News copy boy, he got an Emmy in the toughest news market in the world, had his Hollywood Years, he broke major stories that resonated around the world. He left behind many friends and a family. He did it his way and he’s definitely in Heaven.

And he left a son to carry on. Joe would tell you Padraic is his greatest accomplishment.

Monetarily, Joe wasn’t a rich man. He was like the rest of us, working in TV, paycheck by paycheck, looking ahead to the next gig. So here’s a way to remember and thank Joe, and help his son:

The Hamill family has set up a trust account for young Padraic. “It will be used for his immediate medical needs and college,” writes Diane Dimond, Joe’s colleague and friend.

The fund will be cared for by Joe’s brother Denis, a New York Daily News columnist who’s been taking care of Pat since Joe took ill before the holidays.

(If someone sends us a photo of Joe, we'll post it.)