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President and Mrs. Bush Saddened by Death of Deborah Orin-Eilbeck
Laura and I were saddened to learn of the death of Deborah Orin-Eilbeck. Deb had a distinguished, decades-long career as a journalist, covering every Presidential campaign since 1980 and joining the New York Post's Washington bureau in 1988. Deb fought a valiant battle against cancer with the same tenacity, devotion, and determination that she brought to her work in the White House briefing room through numerous Administrations.
Laura and I send our condolences to Deb's husband Neville Eilbeck, and to her family, friends, and colleagues. She will be missed by all of us at the White House who cared deeply for her.
White House Correspondents Association
“For the past year, Deborah Orin-Eilbeck has fought her battle with cancer with courage and dignity. In an interview last month from her New York apartment, Deborah showed her passion for the story, her dogged determination in asking just the right questions, and her love of writing. Deborah said:
“I think everybody's role models in journalism maybe go back to the Second World War, people like Eric Sevareid, just the most immediate time, the sense when journalists were covering an amazing story and part of that story.”
From the Reagan presidency and Iran-Contra, to September 11th and the Iraq War, Deborah Orin was part of every major story our time. She leaves behind a tremendous legacy, and her voice will be sadly missed in the White House briefing room. On behalf of her friends and colleagues, we offer our deepest sympathy to her beloved husband Neville and her family.
Statement from Rudy Giuliani on the passing of Deb Orin-Eilbeck
I knew Deb Orin for years and for just as long, her stories have been must reads for everyone not just politicians and public figures, but readers everywhere with an interest in current events. Her determination in pursuing the full story was balanced by her deep knowledge and understanding of how politics work in both New York and Washington, D.C. Her readers could rely on that knowledge when they read her stories She didn’t just report politics, she explained them. Judith and I extend our heart felt sympathy to her husband Neville Eilbeck, her family, friends and her colleagues.
Washington Times, TODAY'S EDITORIAL, January 30, 2007
The sad passing of Deborah Orin-Eilbeck is a tremendous loss for
political journalism. Mrs. Orin-Eilbeck, Washington bureau chief for the
New York Post since 1988, was a journalist first and a conservative
second. Her reporting reflected an unwavering commitment to the truth,
never the spin. She had the extraordinary ability to ask the right
questions at any press conference, and her intellect and tenacity were
always readily apparent. Mrs. Orin-Eilbeck, 59, died of cancer Sunday.
"Debbie combined a hard-hitting professional style and a wonderfully
straightforward personal style in a way that made her alternately hated
by many of the people she covered, respected by many of the people who
worked next to her in the White House press room, and beloved by her
colleagues at the New York Post," wrote John Podhoretz, a columnist at
the New York Post.
So strong was the respect for Mrs. Orin-Eilbeck's integrity that her
sickness drew sympathy from both sides of the political aisle -- the
White House and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton were both well-wishers.
Mrs. Orin-Eilbeck's integrity was coupled with a clear respect for
her readers. "Make sure you tell your readers the very first thing that
you'd tell your own best beloved or colleagues if you were calling home
to chew over the news of the day," she said during an interview with the
Columbia Journalism Review in 2004.
Mrs. Orin-Eilbeck's attitude toward her work is equally noteworthy.
Gregg Birnbaum, political editor at the New York Post, shared the
following story: In 1996, Mr. Birnbaum, then a reporter at the Post, was
traveling on his first presidential race. "I was on the Clinton campaign
plane," he recounted. "I hadn't traveled nationally before with the
White House press and the national political reporters. I remember after
a couple of days talking to Debbie and telling her that on the campaign
in a short period of time I had encountered more than my share of
pompous, self-important and ego-oversized journalists."
"Of course, she knew exactly what I was talking about, having been
working alongside the D.C. press corps on a daily basis for years. The
advice she gave me I will always remember: Take your work seriously, but
not yourself. That's how Debbie viewed her work in D.C. and herself."
Mrs. Orin-Eilbeck was an extraordinary political journalist; her work
was evidence of her strong commitment to the truth and her impressive
ability to find it out.
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