• Ad Age , Wednesday, January 28, 2009 10:47 AM

When I was an editor at Adweek back in the Eighties, the first thing I'd do after figuring out who beat whom on what story every Monday morning was turn to Jim Brady's "Brady's Bunch" column. His personality came through in every bold-faced item; it was as if you were leaning on the bar next to him in Elaine's.

Brady made his name at Women's Wear Daily, where he eventually rose to publisher. He wrote the "Intelligencer" column for Clay Felker's New York (and eventually succeeded him as editor), and is credited with creating the Page Six column for the New York Post, among other achievements, including several books. He started his career in the noblest of fashions -- by working his way through college as a copy boy at the New York Daily News.

He commanded U.S. Marines during the Korean War and was awarded a Bronze Star in 2001, Judann Pollack reports. "I haven't spent the last 49 years wringing my hands over the medal because I always had the medal," he said at the time. "It wasn't on my breast; it was in my heart."

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