Susan Harrigan, former Newsday business reporter, dies at 78

Storytelling was a part of Susan Harrigan's DNA. The Manhattan journalist grew up in the publishing world as she watched her father at the helm of a local New Hampshire newspaper.

"Susan loved the interaction with the people involved in newsworthy events, the drama and excitement involved in big stories, and the writing itself," said her husband, author Peter Benjaminson.

Harrigan died of Alzheimer's disease on March 23 at the age of 78.

Born in Bethesda, Maryland, on April 5, 1945, Harrigan grew up in Colebrook, New Hampshire, where her father, Fred Harrigan, worked as a lawyer and judge, and was the publisher of the local newspaper, The Colebrook News & Sentinel. Harrigan's mother, Esther White Harrigan, was a teacher and mother of four..

Harrigan graduated from Connecticut College and later attended Princeton University in 1976 on a fellowship, where she met her husband. The two were named Sloan Fellows in economics journalism, a yearlong program for seven selected journalists held at the university.

"A beautiful woman and a serious person who also liked to laugh, Susan worked diligently at every task she undertook and had great success as a person and a journalist," said Benjaminson.

Harrigan and Benjaminson were married on Jan. 16, 1979, by a judge in Atlanta, where Harrigan was working as a reporter for the Atlanta bureau of the Wall Street Journal.

"My mom was incredibly loving and supportive of me and everything I wanted to do. She also was an amazing model of a working mom at a time when it wasn't particularly common," said Harrigan's daughter, Anne White Benjaminson, a foreign service officer serving in Vietnam. "I did gymnastics and rode horses and went to high school in the Bronx, really far from where we lived, and she was at every competition and awards ceremony and parent-teacher conference."

From 1986 to 2011, Harrigan was a reporter for the business sections of New York Newsday and then Newsday.

Her husband recalled one particular story she wrote: "It was about a New York State unemployment judge who had awarded herself unemployment for damaging her voice during her career, but then retired and went on to be a professional singer," he said.

Her daughter shared that many memories she has of her mother centered around Newsday, as she often spent days in the office as a child.

"She would just let me spread out in an office and amuse myself during the workday. I knew all of her colleagues and I loved to go to the book review department and help myself to as many books as I wanted," said White Benjaminson.

Harrigan covered many beats during her career, including writing business news in Miami for the Miami Herald, in Atlanta for the Wall Street Journal, and, for 20 years in New York for Newsday.

Harrigan also loved covering dramatic breaking news. She wrote about the criminal activities of Jordan Belfort, whose memoir, "The Wolf of Wall Street," was the basis for a film of the same name, and poignant stories about 9/11, as well as a mass shooting in her hometown of Colebrook. She was forced to retire from journalism after developing carpal tunnel syndrome.

According to White Benjaminson, Harrigan was open to trying new things because her daughter took an interest. From running races to practicing yoga and learning to play the piano, Harrigan's care and enthusiasm were something her two grandchildren got to experience as well. She also enjoyed tai chi and writing about her family.

"I think it's important to remember a lot of the things we take for granted now — the ability of women to attend certain universities, to cover wars, to be paid equally for their work. She came from a small town in which girls were not expected to do any of these things, and I can't imagine how many times in her life people tried to dissuade her from pursuing her dreams, and she just never did," said White Benjaminson. "It was incredible for me to grow up with a role model and champion like her."

In addition to her husband and daughter, Harrigan is survived by her son-in-law, Greg Naarden; two grandchildren, Leo and Abby Naarden; a sister, Mary Harrigan Trowbridge; and numerous nieces and nephews. The funeral service has not yet been planned. Harrigan's ashes will be scattered in the Harrigan family's Ancestor Field in Colebrook.