Valley Independent Sentinel

Remembering ‘One Shot’ Cotter

by Christine DiGrazia | Guest Column | Jan 24, 2012 2:23 pm

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Thank you so much for the wonderful article about Eddie Cotter.

He was one in a million to those of us who worked with him in the “good old days” at the Evening Sentinel on Main Street in Ansonia.

There’s a group of us who cut our teeth in journalism at the Sentinel with Eddie in the 1970’s to whom he was a mentor and great pal to the end of his days. Legends abound of “One-Shot Cotter’s” legendary photography skills and love of a good story.

In 1978, when Gov. Ella T. Grasso closed all the roads in the state due to the Blizzard of ’78, the editor of the Sentinel at the time called all of his reporters at 5:30 a.m. to come in and cover the blizzard.

I put on my father’s fishing hip boots and started to walk down Pulaski Highway in Ansonia to the office. As I trudged through three feet of snow, who comes blazing up the hill in his jalopy with all the emergency scanner antennas? Eddie Cotter!

He deposited me safely at the Sentinel and we got out a paper that morning.

One of the most memorable stories the Sentinel ever had was the tragic day a helicopter crashed into the Housatonic River, killing everyone on board. All of the local, state and national media — dozens, really — raced to the nearest location, the Shelton landfill, to get the story.

Because the federal government and FBI were called in, none of us could get closer to the river than standing on a huge garbage pile about 100 yards or so away. We were all looking out at the scene unfolding in the river, when whom do we see in one of the emergency boats taking pictures? Eddie Cotter – the man with a million sources and connections!

The little Evening Sentinel had the best coverage of them all that day.

I could go on and on with how much Eddie is part of the fabric of my life.

Yes, he was brusque, but underneath that was a heart of pure gold.

The last time I saw Eddie was at a Memorial Day Parade in front of Ansonia’s City Hall more than a few years ago. As an American flag passed by, he had his camera in his left hand and his right hand was over his heart.

The author is a former staff writer for the Evening Sentinel and the New Haven Register. She is now the principal at the Bradley School in Derby.

More on the life of Edward J. Cotter, Jr:

A Derby Legend Passes

The Valley Remembers Edward J. Cotter, Jr.

Some of Ed Cotter’s Flood of 1955 photos

Ed Cotter’s indirect influence on the Valley Independent Sentinel

Obituary for Edward J. Cotter, Jr.

You Couldn’t Say No To Ed Cotter

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