Lippman mentored scores of young journalists over 39-year career
Andy Lippman, a former Associated Press bureau chief who directed coverage of some of the most consequential news events in Los Angeles history, died July 25 at his home in Tucson. He was 78.
Lippman died from multiple system atrophy, a rare brain disease, according to his brother, Glenn.
Lippman spent 39 years at the AP, serving as bureau chief in Louisville; Indianapolis; and Los Angeles. During his tenure in Los Angeles, he oversaw the so-called Trial of the Century, when football legend O.J. Simpson was charged with and acquitted of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. He also supervised coverage of the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which killed more than 70 people and caused $20 billion in damage, and the deadly 1992 Los Angeles riots that destroyed a large swath of the city after four white police officers were acquitted of charges in the videotaped beating of Black motorist Rodney King.
Colleagues said Lippman’s greatest contribution to journalism was the scores of young editors and reporters he recruited and mentored in his soft-spoken but enthusiastic manner. He had the ability to become friends with practically everyone he met, including those he supervised.
Retired AP President and CEO Louis D. Boccardi, who appointed Lippman to lead the Los Angeles bureau, praised him in a statement.
“If you were in a lab and charged with creating a model bureau chief, your model could well be Andy Lippman,” Boccardi said. “He had it all — a sharp news sense, energy without limits, loyalty to, and appreciation for, his staff wherever we sent him, a passion to serve AP members that made the bond seem more like family than business, limitless enthusiasm, thoughtfulness in matters large and small. That was a hallmark of knowing Andy Lippman.”