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Francis Xavier Fay Jr., 89, award-winning reporter and columnist at The Norwalk Hour for almost a half-century, died peacefully Saturday, May 9, 2020 at his Rowayton home after a long battle with cancer.
Photo: Contributed PhotoFrancis Xavier Fay Jr., 89, award-winning reporter and columnist at The Norwalk Hour for almost a half-century, died peacefully Saturday, May 9, 2020 at his Rowayton home after a long battle with cancer.
Francis Xavier Fay Jr., 89, award-winning reporter and columnist at The Norwalk Hour for almost a half-century, died peacefully Saturday, May 9, 2020 at his Rowayton home after a long battle with cancer.
Francis Xavier Fay Jr., 89, award-winning reporter and columnist at The Norwalk Hour for almost a half-century, died peacefully Saturday, May 9, 2020 at his Rowayton home after a long battle with cancer.
NORWALK - Francis Xavier Fay Jr., 89, award-winning reporter and columnist at The Norwalk Hour for almost a half-century, died peacefully Saturday, May 9 at his Rowayton home after a long battle with cancer.
A native Rowaytonite he was known to his many friends as Frank and to his loyal readers by his byline Francis X. Fay, was the oldest of four sons of Francis X. Fay and Margaret Francis X. Fay and Margaret (nee Thornton) and Francis X. Fay.
An electrical engineer, the senior Fay was an early FBI agent who investigated the Lindbergh kidnapping and helped to establish the bureau’s forensics laboratory. He later was head of security at R. H. Macy & Company in Herald Square.
The Fay family initially lived in Brooklyn, then moved to Riverside, Conn., before settling in Rowayton.
Frank Jr. proved a scholar athlete, who attended Norwalk High School, graduating from Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, New Hampshire, where he played basketball and football. He was captain of the football team and class valedictorian.
Frank attended Yale University, before serving in the U.S. Army, after which he attended Columbia University. A fine tenor, he sang in the glee clubs at both universities.
“He loved Rowyaton. He had a love for the region. That kept him home,” recalls brother Tom, who added his older brother also loved to write.
In 1961, Frank applied for a position at The Norwalk Hour, as it was then called. “He told them he could type. He couldn’t.”
But Frank, using just his two index fingers, became a fast typist and a solid reporter. Whether out in the field or working the phones in the newsroom, he was a dogged and thorough reporter and a probing interviewer. With facts and quotes in his notepad, Fay attacked the keyboard, manual typewriters in the early days, then IBM Selectrics and then computers, typing with remarkable speed, despite using only his two index fingers.
His stories were well-crafted, engaging and informative and complete with relevant facts and compelling, revealing quotes. Over his long career, Frank covered most every beat, including city hall, police, sports. And for decades he was The Hour’s education writer.
Frank, who could have gone to one of the New York dailies, decided to stay at The Hour, covering his hometown, in time becoming its senior reporter. He was well-liked, revered and beloved. He was a mentor to many younger reporters who sought his advice and help. Frank knew everybody, including top people at the New York newspapers, magazine and networks and made phone calls and wrote recommendations for promising, ambitious reporters at The Hour.
Ever the sportsman, Frank was a contributing editor in the 1970s to the Connecticut edition of Sports Digest magazine. He was also the founder and commissioner of the Inter-City Touch Football League, which attracted numerous players who had played in college
Frank spent the last dozen years of his career, writing a popular column, The Way We Were, in which he recalled bygone Norwalk. He retired from The Hour in the spring of 2016.
He is survived by his partner of many years Froma Harrop, his brothers Thomas, of Manhattan Beach, California, T. Joseph, of East Hartford, Connecticut, and Gerard, of Ellicott City, Maryland, and step-daughter June Blake. He was predeceased by his late wife Valle Blake, who was active in the redevelopment of the South Norwalk Seaport.
Fay was mentioned in a book by Andy Rooney, the late columnist and 60 Minutes commentator who lived in Rowayton. “Frank is the star reporter for The Hour and a Norwalk treasure because he knows everything about everyone. I can hardly wait to die to see his obit on me.”
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