Neal Henry Hirschfeld

Neal was born in Manhattan to Morris and Adele Hirschfeld and raised on Long Island. His father passed away when he was ten but his strong bond with his kind and loving mother remained throughout her long life. He graduated third in his class at NYU, and went on to receive a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. He began his reporting career at the Buffalo News, but would spend the bulk of it at the New York Daily News. He covered the crime beat, a natural fit with his passion for telling stories about interesting people and events. Neal had a true gift for transforming raw facts into deeply human, compelling narratives. His work earned many awards, including Columbia University’s Meyer “Mike” Berger Award for magazine articles about Vietnam veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress, and about Ellis Island immigrants. Columbia also hired Neal as an adjunct journalism professor, thereby demonstrating that even an institution—Columbia had rejected Neal’s grad school application--can come to its senses.

After seventeen years at the Daily News, Neal turned his talents to screenwriting. He wrote screenplays under contract to Warner Brothers, Tri-Star Films, HBO Showcase and Universal Television. He also wrote freelance features for fifteen magazines and newspapers, including the Guardian and New York Times, as well as three nonfiction books for major publishing houses. His book Detective, co-authored with Kathy Burke, the most highly decorated woman in New York City’s Police Department history, was a labor of love. He turned the book into a screenplay with the hope of having it made into a major motion picture, but another movie with a similar theme broke the momentum that was building toward Detective’s production. Still, Neal’s published output, perhaps more than he realized, reached the pinnacle of journalistic storytelling. Two of his many New York Times articles prove the point: “His Dad, the World’s Darling,” published in 2008, which so resonated with readers that the Times published six letters responding to it, and his 2019 article, “He Was Shot and Paralyzed 32 Years Ago. That’s Not Where the Story Ends.” Neal also wrote occasionally—and beautifully—about one of the joys of his life, his faithful dog, Frankie, a Wheaton Terrier.

In 1997 Neal married Janet Parker. After ten years together, they relocated to Portland, OR. They divorced in 2024 and Neal returned to his beloved New York. Being a lifelong learner was important to Neal, an avid reader who believed in continuing to challenge himself. He taught himself Spanish, working to become proficient because he felt it was important to connect with his many Spanish-speaking friends and neighbors in their native language. In Neal’s last year, he devoted most of his working time to his first novel, a crime thriller about a detective in pursuit of a serial killer in Hungary in the 1920s. When his agent was unable to find a publishing house for the book, Neal did what any 80-year-old would do—he started over. On his coffee table, in the last few months of his life, were two hardcover books on how to write a thriller and a clipboard with pages of notes on developing character and plot.

Neal is survived by his special friend Heather Kopperud, numerous family members, and a host of friends. The lives of everyone who knew Neal were immeasurably enriched and enlivened by the experience. Much more could be said about Neal, but he did not like bloat.

Donations in Neal’s memory can be made to the American Red Cross or ASPCA.