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The legendary — and legendarily difficult — executive editor of the Times from 1977 to 1986, and de facto top editor since 1969, Abe Rosenthal, died at Mt. Sinai Medical Center on the Upper East Side this evening. He was 84 years old and suffered a stroke two weeks ago. Considered a brilliant if mercurial editor, he's credited with creating the modern Times during his editorship, creating the ad-rich features sections that have kept the paper alive as a business while also steering the paper's hard-hitting coverage of Watergate and the Vietnam War and overseeing publication of the Pentagon Papers. He was an op-ed columnist from his retirement until 1999, when he left, as he made clear at the time, not of his own choice. Rosenthal was succeeded as executive editor by Max Frankel, who was subsequently followed by Joe Lelyveld and then Howell Raines. Rosenthal's son, Andrew, who has had a long career at the paper and currently serves as deputy editorial page editor, relayed the news to managing editor Jill Abramson late today.

A.M. Rosenthal, 84, Dies; Reshaped The Times as Editor [NYT]
A.M. Rosenthal, Influential New York Times Editor, Dies at 84 [NY Sun]