Robert Weddle, retired Long Island bureau chief for the New York Post, has passed away after a long illness, his family said. He was 85.
Affectionately nicknamed by the news desk as “Big Bird” because of his gangly stature and beak-like nose, Weddle started out as a reporter for the Long Island Press. When the paper folded the in 1977 the Post scooped him up.
“He was the dean of the Nassau County court house press room,” recalled former Post reporter Marsha Kranes.
“The DA’s loved him. He was an old fashioned newspaper man with an incredible sense of humor and could jolly information out of anyone.”
Weddle died Jan. 11 at his retirement home in Elizabethton, Tenn.
He is survived by his friend Carl Renfro; a sister Jean Rietmuler, and 10 nieces and nephews.