Influential Figure In Public Relations Industry Dies in Southampton

Jack O’Dwyer, a publisher who challenged the way the public relations industry did business over 50 years, died on December 19. He was 85.Mr. O’Dwyer died of a chronic lung issue at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton, according to a colleague, Kevin McCauley.

A former newspaper reporter, he founded “Jack O’Dwyer’s Newsletter” in 1968 to extensively cover the PR industry and ensure that individual firms were being ethical and transparent with their information.

“Jack was committed. He was a hard-nosed kind of reporter, an old-school, shoe-leather type of guy who took great pride in being a reporter,” said Mr. McCauley, the newsletter’s current editor, who had worked with Mr. O’Dwyer for nearly 30 years. “He was viewed as somebody who was fair. Somebody who always reached out to get somebody else’s opinion on a story.”

Through his Manhattan offices of J.R. O’Dwyer Company Inc., Mr. O’Dwyer put out his newsletter, PR directories and “O’Dwyer’s,” a monthly magazine that began in 1986. He also published annual financial rankings of PR firms through his company, beginning around 1975, which was the first of its kind that aimed at professionalizing the field, a “major accomplishment,” according to Mr. McCauley.

His son, John, took over as publisher of all the company’s titles this year, and his daughter, Christine, is the company’s research editor.

Mr. McCauley posted an obituary of Mr. O’Dwyer on the company’s website the day after his death. It received 58 comments that tell of his character and legacy, written by those who knew Mr. O’Dwyer over the years. Several comments described him as a “legend”—he also got “feisty old bulldog” from John Stauber, and “industry icon” from Janess Messner, among others.

His proclivity to challenge authority also made him a familiar face in recent years in Westhampton Beach, where he was a resident, voicing his opinion on various matters during numerous Westhampton Beach Village Board meetings.

In 2016, he called for the removal of Wi-Fi routers from all public spaces in the village due to concerns about radiation emission. He also repeatedly asked to see the Village Hall Wi-Fi router, but the board denied his requests. And, in 2015, he criticized board members for their lack of communication with the public regarding the battle against a religious boundary, called an eruv, that was eventually established in the village.

“He was very passionate about what he believed in,” Westhampton Beach Village Mayor Maria Moore said, adding sympathies for his widow, Lucille, who survives him, in addition to his son and daughter.

Werner Rothwell Funeral Home in Westhampton Beach were in charge of funeral and burial services for Mr. O’Dwyer on December 26. The funeral was held in the Church of Immaculate Conception in Westhampton Beach, and the burial took place in Westhampton Cemetery.