Former Kendall Park photojournalist dies
William Sauro, 78, worked for The New York Times
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SAURO FAMILY Former Kendall Park resident and noted New York Times photographer William Sauro, 78, died in California on Oct. 27.
SOUTH BRUNSWICK — Award-winning photojournalist William Sauro, a former Kendall Park resident, died Oct. 27 in Mission Viejo, Calif. He was 78 and lived in Laguna Woods, Calif..
"The world was his oyster. He handled overseas war assignments, sports, fashion, politics, and movie stars with equal vigor and skill," said longtime friend and colleague Jim Breetveld.
Breetveld, who also lives in the Kendall Park section of the township, said that it was Sauro who persuaded him to move to the township in 1957.
"We were both early pioneers, among the first in Kendall Park," Breetveld said.
Sauro died in an assisted living facility after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Sauro worked on the staff of The New York Times from 1967 until he retired in 1996.
Some of his best known photographs included pictures of the Kennedy family, and Eleanor Roosevelt meeting with Helen Keller.
The latter photo taken for United Press International won Sauro the 1955 George Polk Memorial Award for photojournalism.
He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 30, 1923, and attended Cleveland College prior to serving as a sergeant in the European theater of World War II.
Sauro moved from Cleveland to New York in 1951, taking a job as a photographer for Acme Newspictures, which later became United Press International.
He also worked for The New York Herald and The World Journal Tribune before taking the position with the Times.
Breetveld, who worked as a caption writer in the Manhattan offices of Acme, met Sauro when he arrived in 1951.
"A few years later, after I had been elevated to the post of photo editor, I really began to recognize and admire Bill’s very special brand of photojournalist excellence," Breetveld said.
In addition to many other awards, Sauro was nominated five times for the coveted Pulitzer Prize.
"His work was never routine. He always worked for the better shot, the different angle, going the extra mile," Breetveld said.
Besides working together, the two men struck up a lifelong friendship, according to Breetveld.
"His sweet nature, humility, vibrant sense of humor and brilliance easily existed side by side in this extraordinary man," Breetveld said.
Survivors include his wife, the former Jeannette Hammond; two daughters, Nina Maginnis of Orange Park Acres, Calif., and Adrienne Heckman of Irvine, Calif.; four grandchildren; and a sister, Helen Georgio, and a half brother, Fred Marchionna, both of Santa Maria, Calif.