Longtime AP bureau chief Andy Lippman, who led coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial, dies at 78
Andy Lippman, who was the Los Angeles bureau chief during the OJ Simpson trial and the Los Angeles riots during a 39-year career at the Associated Press, has died at age 78.
Lippman died July 25 at his home in Tucson, according to his brother Glenn. He died of multiple system atrophy, a rare brain disease.
A talented writer and editor, Lippman arguably made his greatest contribution to journalism through the many young editors and reporters he hired, mentored with his soft-spoken but enthusiastic demeanor, and pioneered accomplishments they later thought would not be possible. He had the ability to make friends with almost everyone he met, including those he led.
He did this as chief of AP bureaus in Louisville, Indianapolis and Los Angeles.
During his time there, Lippman oversaw the so-called Trial of the Century, in which football legend OJ Simpson was accused and acquitted of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. He also oversaw coverage of the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which killed more than 70 people and caused $20 billion in damage. And in 1992, he spearheaded coverage of the deadly 1992 Los Angeles riots that destroyed much of the city after four white police officers were acquitted of charges in their videotaped beating of Black motorist Rodney King.
“If you were in a laboratory and tasked with creating a model bureau chief, your model might very well be Andy Lippman,” said retired AP Chairman and CEO Louis D. Boccardi, who appointed Lippman to head the Los Angeles bureau.
“He had everything,” Boccardi said. “A keen sense of news, boundless energy, loyalty and appreciation for his staff wherever we send him, a passion for serving MEPs that make this bond more like family than business, boundless enthusiasm, thoughtfulness on matters big and small. These were the hallmarks of knowing Andy Lippman.”
Colleagues remembered him as a thoughtful boss
Lippman was remembered for his thoughtfulness, especially in Los Angeles. Even after he retired, he would surprise employees stuck working on Thanksgiving by showing up with a full meal (turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, the works). And sweet.
“Andy was truly like a brother to me from the moment we met in 1982 as AP bureau chiefs in neighboring states — Andy in Louisville and me in Indianapolis,” said Paul Stevens, a retired AP bureau chief and regional vice president who now edits AP’s Connecting newsletter for retired and former AP journalists.
“We’ve been best friends forever,” Stevens said. “One year, he invited our then-teenage daughters as guests at the Academy Awards show in Los Angeles. He came to their family wedding. We were there for each other through difficult times, including the deaths of our parents.”
Dozens of people have shared similar sentiments at various meetings in recent years, including the AP’s annual dinner for retirees. At a recent farewell party in Los Angeles, which Lippman was unable to attend due to illness, each of the dozens of people in the room recorded tribute videos.
He was a journalist since the early 1960s
Andy Lippman was born on April 29, 1948, in Washington, D.C., to Miriam and Morton Lippman. He grew up in Bethesda, Maryland, and seemed destined to become a journalist. He worked on the middle school newspaper and edited The Pitch, Bethesda’s Walter Johnson High School newspaper, during his senior year.
“Working on The Pitch really helped me focus and being an editor in particular really gave me a sense of responsibility,” he told the newspaper in 2016.
At age 15, Lippman began writing “for pay” on weekends for the Washington Daily News, covering high school sports. Later, when he arrived in Los Angeles in the late 1980s, he made sure every reporter or editor knew how to cover a sporting event in case they were pressed into service in an emergency.
After graduating from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism in 1970, Lippman took a vacation outreach job at the AP’s Phoenix bureau in 1971. A year later he became a permanent member of the Tucson, Arizona, team, then moved to the AP’s sports desk in New York and then to Cincinnati, where he became an AP reporter. Then it was Louisville’s turn.
Sports news seemed to continue to make its way back into business. In 1991, Lippman pressured sportswriters to confirm the news that Los Angeles Lakers superstar Magic Johnson was about to announce his retirement after contracting the AIDS virus, and they did. While in Indianapolis, Lippman had reported on Johnson’s on-field rival and close friend, Larry Bird.
He dealt with health issues but remained in the game
In 2005, the AP honored him with the Oliver S. Gramling Spirit Award, given to staff members who demonstrate commitment, courage and exceptional support to the news agency’s mission.
Lippman, who suffered from various health problems in the following years, retired from AP in 2009 but never lost his connection with the company.
He continued to help others by teaching English to immigrants and helping approximately 75 Green Card holders prepare for their exams to become U.S. citizens. In 2022, Puente Learning Center in East Los Angeles named Lippman Volunteer of the Year; this honor was accompanied by a proclamation from the California Legislature.
Lippman never really left journalism. For eight years until last December, he wrote a weekly column for the South Pasadena Review, the local newspaper of the close-knit suburb just north of Los Angeles that Lippman had come to love in his later years.
Lippman served in the U.S. Army Reserves for six years, starting in 1970. His family says he will be cremated and some of his ashes will be placed in Ravello, Italy; Colonial Williamsburg; Indiana; and South Pasadena, California. Survivors include his sister-in-law Nancy Newberry, his brother Glenn, and an extended family “consisting of many friends, colleagues, students, and community contacts,” Glenn wrote. Lippman is also survived by his beloved rescue dog, Scout.
