“The reporting assignment was simple enough,” Mr. Payne later recalled. Mr. Payne also helped the newspaper raise its profile beyond Long Island. In 1985, Mayor Edward I. Koch refused to be interviewed by Mr. Payne on a television program after pronouncing his writing racist. Mr. Payne wrote that Larry Bird, the Boston Celtics superstar, was overrated because he was white. Mr. Payne faced down more dangerous adversaries than Mr. Sharpton.

Source: New York Times March 20, 2018 22:08 UTC