Manuel Perez, former New York Newsday reporter, dies at 57

Manuel Perez, who shared a Pulitzer Prize for spot news reporting while at New York Newsday before a long career at CNN, died Monday. He was 57.

He died following a four-month battle with cancer at home in Tiger, Georgia, said his widow, Gabriela Ortiz-Perez.

Perez left CNN in 2016 to be closer to his wife, who runs a Montessori school in Tiger, and their son, Joaquin. But he didn’t stop consuming news, reading publications in the United States and Spain, Ortiz-Perez said. Perez also picked up a post-journalism hobby.

"He had this passion for gardening," said Ortiz-Perez, his wife of 30 years. "He made me the most beautiful gardens all around our home."

Perez, who as a child moved with his mother to the United States from Galicia in northwestern Spain, returned as an adult to visit family in his native country, bringing his own family and friends.

"One summer after we had stopped working together, my wife, son, and I joined him and his family in Galicia," said Mitch Gelman, who worked with Perez at New York Newsday and CNN. "He was kind enough to share his life experience with us."

Perez started his journalism career with an internship at New York Newsday, which led to a full-time job.

Rose Arce, a colleague of Perez at New York Newsday, remembered what it was like to work with him on stories.

"Any story that you worked on with him, he would come back with terrific material because he was a super thoughtful guy," said Arce, who later worked with Perez at CNN. "He saw stories where other people didn’t see stories."

Perez and fellow New York Newsday reporters received the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for spot news for coverage of a midnight subway derailment at Union Square that left five passengers dead and more than 200 injured.

"His colleagues were just naturally drawn to Manuel when we worked together at New York Newsday," said Deborah Henley, editor of Newsday. "His quiet, thoughtful and respectful way always opened doors and earned the trust of those he wrote about. He cared deeply about getting the story right."

Among the stories Perez, who used the byline Manuel Perez-Rivas, wrote at New York Newsday was a piece for a 1994 series on the 40th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education about how New York City public schools were the most segregated in the nation.

"Although the ruling mandated the integration of schools that had previously been segregated by law, it had no impact on New York, where segregation was not a matter of law — it had been abolished by the state in 1938 — but a result of racially segregated neighborhoods," he wrote.

In 1995, when New York Newsday closed, Perez was hired to cover suburban counties for The Washington Post.

In 2001, Perez was hired to help run CNN.com by Gelman, who said those who worked with Perez knew that "he was a better reporter than anybody at the Post who was working at the White House or covering Congress. But he was not the type of journalist who would call attention to himself."

In 2002, Perez moved to Atlanta, where CNN is headquartered, and had a long career that included being named editorial director of CNN Digital.

Richard Galant, the managing editor of CNN Opinion, said Perez’s commitment to journalism and ability to work with people played roles in his success.

"He was famous, I think, for his sense of calm and ability to listen to people and see what really motivated them [to] find ways to help advance their careers," said Galant, who had been a managing editor at New York Newsday and Newsday.

Born May 31, 1964, Perez was the only child of his mother, Maria-Isabel Rivas; Perez’s father, Manuel Perez-Valino, died before his son was born.

Perez moved to Lakewood, New Jersey, with his mother, who worked at the Old Fashion Kitchen making blintzes.

While studying economics at New York University, Perez took a photography class and chose to pursue a path in journalism, his wife said.

He is survived by his mother, wife and son. Perez will be cremated and his ashes will be interred at St. Helena Catholic Church in Clayton, Georgia.