Martin Sheridan, journalist who lived a storied life; at 89

Martin Sheridan, who survived Boston's infamous Cocoanut Grove fire and became a journalist who corresponded from air, land, and sea, died of kidney failure on Dec. 31 in New London, Conn. He was 89.

From the skies he covered a deadly World War II B-29 bombing raid on Tokyo for the Globe. He got so close to the action he managed to add a beer bottle to the last load of bombs to fall on the city.

Mr. Sheridan, who lived in Gilman, Conn., was also heralded as the only newsman allowed on a submarine patrol in World War II, reporting from the USS Bullhead.

On the ground, he interviewed the likes of Theodore Roosevelt, Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, Bob Hope, and George Gershwin. He interviewed Jacqueline Kennedy two days before her husband was assassinated.

He "declared when he was a young man that he wanted to talk to `presidents and kings,' and that he did," said his wife, Shirley (Gilman).

Though a prolific writer and storyteller, he had little inclination to recount his harrowing experience in the Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire in 1942. It "was so traumatic for him -- that was something he really didn't like to discuss," said his daughter Margaret Schmidt of Northbrook, Ill.

The blaze in the crowded club killed 492 people, including Mr. Sheridan's first wife, Constance Misslin. Mr. Sheridan discussed the Nov. 28, 1942, fire in print once, commemorating its 15th anniversary in the Globe in 1957.

"I shall never forget the screams and cries of the trapped, the crash and clatter of overturning tables and chairs, the smashing of dishes and glasses," he wrote.

The original death toll listed Mr. Sheridan as deceased, but it was corrected when he was discovered recuperating at Massachusetts General Hospital. He donated blood regularly until he had given back all that he received while being treated for 58 days.

In his recuperation from fire injuries, he received skin grafts on one hand and had to wear boric acid and white gloves to bed every night as treatment. The injuries prevented him from enlisting in the Coast Guard, so he joined the Globe as a war correspondent.

As one of the first reporters enlisted as a noncombatant in the World War II Army, Mr. Sheridan corresponded on Pacific-area conflicts for the Globe, The New York Times, and the North American Newspaper Alliance. He was one of the first "embedded journalists," although the term had not been coined at the time.

"You have added luster to the difficult, dangerous and arduous profession of War Correspondent," wrote General Douglas MacArthur in a 1945 letter of commendation to Mr. Sheridan.

Mr. Sheridan had a penchant for remembering, but not for bragging. He saved telegrams, old press cards, letters, original dispatches, and photographs, but was discreet about the experiences that tied him to the keepsakes.

"He kept a very low profile," said his wife. "He never sat around boasting about his many, many accomplishments, and I think people recognized that."

Margaret Schmidt has lately been filling in the gaps of her father's history by poring over the materials he saved.

"I had a sense that there was a lot more to him than I really knew. It's like a discovery, getting to know his life," she said.

Mr. Sheridan, born in Providence on Aug. 1, 1914, the day Germany declared war on Russia at the start of World War I, was a spruce, tall gentleman. He maintained an energetic posture into his 80s and always wore neatly pressed slacks and shirts.

"He just looked like someone who was a professor or something," said his stepson Geoffery Gilman, who saw him daily.

When he was at home in Gilman, Mr. Sheridan's morning routine was exact. Always up at 7:30 a.m., he would first check the thermometer for the day's temperature and then turn to the newspaper, Gilman said.

"The paper at the table had to be . . . in the corner of the right. He was very particular about certain things," Gilman said.

Mr. Sheridan was known for doggedly pursuing any subject, personality, or locale that interested him. In his 20s, he hitchhiked to Chicago to work as a rickshaw boy in the 1933 World Fair.

"He did that kind of thing -- he just took off and landed somehow, safely," his wife said. "He was anxious, young, and talented, and he wanted to proceed from there."

Mr. Sheridan was particularly enthusiastic about submarines, a topic he wrote about repeatedly during his career. His book, "Overdue and Presumed Lost," chronicled his unparalleled experience aboard the USS Bullhead. It will be reissued this spring by the Naval Institute Press.

He also wrote "Comics and their Creators," a book about comic strip artists. His articles on other subjects appeared in The Chicago Sun Times, The Providence Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and many magazines. He worked in public relations for two decades for companies such as the Admiral Corp. and the New England Council, and retired in 1986. He also worked as a photojournalist.

Mr. Sheridan was widowed twice. After losing his first wife in the fire, he lost his second wife, Margaret Ann Cooke, to bone marrow cancer in 1981.

In addition to his wife, daughter, and stepson, Mr. Sheridan leaves another daughter, Jean Randall Sheridan of Evanston, Ill.; two stepsons, Glenn and Neil Gilman of Gilman; a stepdaughter, Greer Gilman, of Cambridge; two grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held in Illinois tomorrow. A local service will be held Jan. 16 at 1 p.m. in the Coast Guard Chapel in New London.