An old-school reporter with a passion for finding the truth

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Will Astor, a reporter and Rochester Beacon cofounder whose encyclopedic grasp of complex topics and storytelling mastery earned him numerous awards over a career in Rochester spanning more than four decades, died Jan. 30. He was 79.

His wife, Janis Hyland, said the cause of death was complications from prostate cancer.

Will Astor

Astor was a cancer survivor for nearly 20 years. In 2021, he wrote a story that described how many patients with serious illnesses also are victimized by exorbitant out-of-pocket costs for needed drugs. The article, he later noted, “blended my personal experience and the dysfunctional dynamics of the U.S. health care market, giving life and immediacy to a topic many find yawn-inducing.”

A skilled journalist who wrote on a wide range of topics, Astor was known and respected in particular for his coverage of health care and legal issues.

“Everybody in town knew (he was) the go-to guy for health care stories,” says Susan Holliday, former president and publisher of the Rochester Business Journal, where Astor was a reporter for more than two decades. “He really dove in and learned the business and could write about it with a level of understanding. I think that’s why he had so much respect, because he really understood the business.”

Edward Hourihan Jr., managing member of Bond, Schoeneck & King’s Rochester office, says Astor was “a tireless and talented reporter. … He was highly skilled and remarkably analytical in his approach, distilling complex matters down to understandable and appealing stories.”

His work resonated with readers. Since the Beacon’s launch in 2018, Astor annually wrote some of the publication’s most-read stories—articles like his piece on “the plight of private practice doctors” and his examination of the legal challenges faced by District Attorney Sandra Doorley after a traffic-stop incident, both written last year. In 2023, the top three stories all had his byline, including his report on the accusations of falsifying results and plagiarism brought against University of Rochester physicist and researcher Ranga Dias.

At RBJ, he produced numerous articles that won national and state awards. Among them was his 2014 story on the nearly $30 million in retirement benefits awarded to former Excellus BlueCross BlueShield CEO David Klein. “Despite few answers and little cooperation from (Excellus),” the judges commented, “Astor was able to use documents to assemble a rock-solid report.”

His 2008 piece, “One woman’s travail is a cautionary tale,” about a retired nurse who assembled a portfolio of 54 properties, all of which went into foreclosure, was praised as “a small gem of a story, concisely written, with large import. (He) packs in facts, content, telling quotes, and even some gallows humor.” His award-winning work also included an article on union pension and benefit fund losses stemming from the Bernard Madoff fraud case and a 2015 obituary for William Konar, a Polish-born Holocaust survivor who arrived in Rochester after World War II as an orphaned and penniless teenager, and built a business fortune.

“He just dedicated himself to the craft of writing and investigative journalism,” Hyland says. “And it was his identity. He’d still be doing it if he could. That was Will.”

Family heritage

William L. Astor was born June 4, 1945, at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital. His father, Norman Astor, was a journalist for CBS Radio News in Los Angeles. The following year, his family moved to Buffalo, where his mother, Tillie Gichtin Astor, had grown up. In 1947, Astor’s father died of pneumonia. In his early years, Astor and his mother lived with her parents and then, after she remarried, in the downstairs flat in the same house.

Will Astor is seen here with his grandfather Morris Gichtin, left, mother Tillie, center, and grandmother, Clara Gichtin. His grandparents and mother came to the United States in 1921 after fleeing persecution in Russia.

Astor’s mother and maternal grandparents were Jewish refugees from Justingrad, then part of Russia but now in Ukraine. In a 2019 story, “Finding refuge,” Astor wrote about how they fled for America around 1920 after pogroms had ravaged the shtetls where most Russian Jews were required to live.

Though he did not practice Judaism, Hyland says, his Jewish heritage was important to him.

1959 graduation photo from School 64 in Buffalo.

“He was very, very touched by his grandparents’ story of fleeing pogroms. He was deeply touched by that part of his life,” she says. “This is a part of Will that you wouldn’t think of, because he was so in his brain all the time, but he could be moved to tears. Sometimes he would barely talk when he would choke up. Which was a very beautiful side of him.”

The house near the Buffalo Zoo was crowded, with Astor, his mother, grandparents, two aunts and an uncle all under one roof. His grandmother called him “vilde chaya,” Yiddish for wild child. When he was seven, his mother remarried, and in 1961, his stepfather’s work brought the family to Brighton.

Astor graduated from Brighton High School and attended New York University for a year. “Being an avid reader and having endless curiosity,” Hyland notes, “Will was largely self-taught.”

After leaving New York City, Astor moved to California, working for a time at the Los Angeles Free Press. During this period he also traveled the country, Hyland says, and worked in Maryland picking apples and trimming trees. He later worked at a radio station in Ithaca.

Astor moved back to Rochester in the 1970s and was a radio news reporter at WXXI. He later worked at Channel 8 and City Newspaper before joining the RBJ staff in October 1992.

Covering health care

When first assigned to cover health care, “he knew nothing about the beat,” Holliday recalls. “He really educated himself in great detail about the business. … That’s why he had such an impact on our reputation; he was well-respected, whether it was a positive story or a negative story.”

When Teri D’Agostino, former chief of staff at the University of Rochester Medical Center, learned that Astor, who was already known for covering labor unions and other beats at City, she wondered if it would take time for him to learn the ropes.

It was a tumultuous time for local health care sector in the late 1990s and early 2000s, she notes. A new sense of competition had begun to rise among health systems, and there was stress between insurers and providers.

“But he had such a sophisticated view of that. He saw that organizations were chafing because of fundamentally different approaches, but he refused to villainize either side,” D’Agostino says. “I’d like to say, ‘Oh, he was a friend of the Medical Center.’ He wasn’t in anyone’s pocket. He was absolutely committed to accuracy and clarity. He wanted to get it right, and that’s why I enjoyed him so much because he was so committed.”

Astor’s uncanny ability and willingness to understand the underpinnings of health care systems and finances earned him a reputation. When Astor called, D’Agostino would make sure to clear her calendar for the next hour because he wasn’t calling for a canned response to an inquiry. 

“He wasn’t interested in that,” she recalls. “He engaged you in a deep conversation to try to understand what was happening and why, and saw that through the lens of what it meant for the for the business community, and what it meant for the patients, and what it meant for the providers.”

Chip Partner, who was appointed to D’Agostino’s role, came from the public relations world where he had health care clients. Astor was a reporter who had worked with him in the past.

“I always knew with Will he was going to ask hard questions and very detailed questions, because he wanted to make sure he understood the subject thoroughly, and then he would explain it in a very clear and very balanced way,” says Partner, URMC’s assistant vice president, director of public relations and external communications. “Depending on the issue and the topic and the client, we weren’t always happy with the coverage, but we felt like (it) was objective, it was fair and it was smart.”

Jim Redmond, retired vice president of communications at Excellus BCBS, calls Astor an old-school reporter.

“He was right out of the H.L. Mencken school where he viewed it as his mission to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, and he took that seriously,” Redmond says.

Covering health care financing wasn’t an easy task, even for a seasoned reporter. Astor was a quick study, however.

“Will was a great sparring partner,” Redmond says. “We were both doing our job. There was nothing personal about it, and I respected him. I think he respected me. I never told him anything that wasn’t factual.”

Astor’s persistence and questions made communications executives pay close attention.

“You had to listen carefully to the nuances of Will’s questions, but I always thought he was a very fair reporter. I mean, fair to us; it’s one of those things where the best you can hope for is fair and balanced,” Redmond says.

Says Partner: “ I remember thinking (that) he approached reporting kind of like Columbo approached detective work. You would talk, and you’d think, OK, we’re all done, and he’d say, ‘Oh, just one more thing. Just one more thing.’”

During Astor’s last hospital admission at Strong Memorial, a resident tried to explain the health insurance approval process for moving to another facility in great detail. Astor waited as patiently as he could for her to finish her second sentence, and when he realized it was a longer conversation, he said, “You don’t have to explain it to me. I know all about it.”

Deep knowledge

Astor had a passion for in-depth knowledge, Hyland says. “He read (voraciously). If you started any topic with him, he’d go all the way back to the Roman Empire. … He had such a massive memory that he didn’t ever forget details. And he’d tell you where he read it.”

Astor exited RBJ in February 2017, following the paper’s sale to GateHouse Media. That summer, he became part of the group of Rochester Beacon cofounders; he wrote for the Beacon from its launch in October 2018 until two months ago, when he no longer had the strength to do so. His last piece for the Beacon was “The future of Rochester’s reservoirs,” published Dec. 5.

“Will Astor’s pen was mighty and prolific, wielding insight that impacted Rochester for decades,” says Alex Zapesochny, publisher of the Rochester Beacon. “His absence leaves a void in our newsroom and our hearts.”

In a Facebook post, attorney Paul Nunes praised Astor’s wide-ranging coverage of legal cases. He wrote, “The only litigants who feared Will were those who feared that he would write the truth.”

Indeed, his stories could be hard-hitting: He reported on the collapse of Jason Palmer’s real estate empire and for RBJ’s 25th anniversary special edition, he wrote “Marked by their misdeeds,” about “onetime highfliers … brought down by regulators and the law.”

“He was deeply moved by some of the stories he covered,” Hyland says. Even as his strength waned, he hoped to continue his coverage of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester bankruptcy case stemming from complaints filed by nearly 500 people who say they were molested by priests and other church officials.

Wrote Nunes: “I was lucky to speak to Will on his last days to tell him how much I respected him and that the entire Rochester legal community and community at large owned him a debt of gratitude. Google his name. Read a couple of his articles.  His crackling intelligence is on full display. I’m so sad that his voice is now silent. Now especially when we need the truth more than ever.”

Man of many facets

Though they did not marry until 2012, Astor and Hyland had been together for more than 30 years. They met when he worked at WXXI and she applied for a job there. Both had been married before.

Will Astor and wife Janis Hyland

She told him, “I’m not looking for love. I just want to ride bikes, take walks and go to movies. We went out on a date, we drove up to Lake Ontario. … He brought me home and we just kept talking. We talked till midnight, and he said, ‘I’d like to see you again,’ and I said that would be all right, and we’ve basically been together ever since. We just loved talking to each other, really, right up to his last breath.”

Astor was always reluctant to go away on vacation, because it would take him away from reporting and writing, but the couple enjoyed bike outings together—sometimes riding from their home near Highland Park to Pittsford or Fairport. They bought a canoe and explored Irondequoit Bay. He also was an excellent gardener: “He made our yard look so beautiful … a kind of wild, natural look to it.”

And he split his own logs for firewood. “He went to a Jewish Boy Scout camp in Warsaw,” Hyland recalls. “He loved, loved, loved being a Boy Scout, and he could make a fire like nobody’s business. … And he knew his woods—how well they burned, the hard woods from the soft woods.”

For years, Astor had a weekly poker game with a group that included longtime WXXI-FM morning host Simon Pontin. He also played the guitar.

“He loved the blues,” Hyland says. “He knew the names of all the old blues guys and could sing their songs and play (them). He had sort of an old mournful soul.”

Roughly a year ago, Astor was told that his prostate cancer had metastasized. Treatments—including one that caused him to suffer anaphylactic shock—failed to halt the spread of the disease.  

“It was such a long goodbye,” Hyland says. “We had so much time together, to understand that he wasn’t going to pull through. We had hopes that we’d have a little more time, but we knew what was coming.”

Astor wanted his final days to be in hospice care at Isaiah House on East Avenue. He arrived there around 10 a.m. last Thursday, and passed away two hours later, with Hyland by his side and surrounded by floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in Isaiah House’s library.

His curiosity, and desire to understand deeply, was with him to the end. Among his last few words were, “Where are we situated exactly geographically?” 

Calling hours will be Feb. 21, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., at Anthony Funeral & Cremation Chapels, 2305 Monroe Ave. In lieu of flowers, Will Astor wished that donations be made to support Isaiah House and the Rochester Beacon.

Paul Ericson is Rochester Beacon executive editor. Smriti Jacob is managing editor.

The Beacon welcomes comments and letters from readers who adhere to our comment policy including use of their full, real nameSee “Leave a Reply” below to discuss on this post. Comments of a general nature may be submitted to the Letters page by emailing  [email protected]

15 thoughts on “An old-school reporter with a passion for finding the truth

  1. I very much appreciate this tribute to my cousin Will. He was a great source of family stories, and was always there for us when called upon. I very much valued his intellect and friendliness.

    He will be missed.

  2. I was stunned to learn of Will Astor’s passing. As an investigative reporter, he was in a league of his own. He interviewed me several times at the Urban League for CITY, and on many more occasions during my City Hall tenure. Whenever speaking with him, I knew that he would ask tough questions, and follow up with more penetrating ones. Chip Partner’s comparison of him to detective Columbo was very apt. He persisted until he got his story; and what made it to print was well worth reading. I did not always agree with him, but I never doubted his integrity and professionalism. In fact, I looked forward to our encounters. The brand of journalism he practiced is vanishing but much needed in these tumultuous times: an unwillingness to be intimidated by people in power. His passing jolts us to realize that we should never wait to express our appreciation to friends and colleagues posthumously, but while they can hear and appreciate our words. I wish I would have told Will how his presence and persistence made public servants do our jobs better.

  3. Thank you, Paul and Smriti, for this tribute to Will. From Day One when I met him decades ago, I knew he was smart and funny, but over time came to also appreciate his meticulous reporting, terrific writing, integrity as a human being, kindness as a friend, and bravery in illness. Right now I’m looking at the string of phone messages we exchanged over the years and laughing all over again. My condolences to Janis, and gratitude for sharing their story. Yes, I have seen that wry and analytical man moved to tears.

  4. That was a beautiful tribute to Will. I worked with him at WXXI and was on the other end of his dogged reporting in my roles with the City and County. Chip and Jim are spot on. You may have not liked his finished story, but you couldn’t say it was inaccurate. He never had a pre-written story coming in, like so many other reporters have. Humble and considerate, he always listened carefully and thoroughly to what you had to say. Better still, when not on a story, you could have a great conversation with him on any number of topics. He was like Bob Smith; he knew something about everything. In-depth reporting is all but gone, and we just lost a consummate reporter.

  5. Thank you for remembering my Cousin, Will Astor so honorably.

    And, for including not only his love and talent of journalism, of truth. but his love of his wife, Janis, gardening, guitar playing, the city of Rochester, and ohh, you forgot, his cats.

    I am sure going to miss him.

  6. My heart goes out to Will’s loved ones, including his family from the RBJ. Your mention of his phenomenal memory reminds me of when he caught me using non-dairy creamer and paused to tell me a good bit of its history. Fifteen years later it still crosses my mind if I use it. Will’s unique wisdom, humor and commitment–beautifully captured in your story–will be missed deeply.

  7. The loss of Will Astor is indeed sad news. He personally recruited me for a bi-monthly Labor column in the RBJ, which was often more than six times a year. He did not hesitate to call me for Labor’s views on other issues, or for guidance on certain businesses/industries regarding the right person to talk to from Labor in that industry. Sometimes our conversations would wander to other issues, and we just talked, and we laughed. A very good journalist and a good guy. My heart and sympathies to his wife and all who knew him.
    Rest In Peace Will.

  8. Will Astor was a pleasure to work with in our RBJ days. He was a great reporter with an outstanding memory and attention to details that were important. He was also an excellent poker player and “took” my money the few times I played with him and his friends!
    We will all miss Will Astor. May he rest in peace.

  9. A lovely tribute to my cousin Will. He was my babysitter from the time I was born until he moved to Rochester. I followed him around everywhere when we were together – I’m sure I was a pest. He was never upset with me when I called him his childhood name accidently instead of his adult name.

  10. Very sorry to hear of Will’s passing. He was a truly gifted individual. I always enjoyed and respected his writings. When he reached out for a comment on a story, I always looked forward to a good conversation often extending beyond what his original inquiry entailed.
    While we are all going to miss Will, fortunately for us he has left so many words behind, for us to remember!

  11. I’m truly sad to hear of Will’s passing. I had the privilege of engaging with him years ago, while working in PR here in Rochester, and I’ve followed his reporting ever since. He was a fine reporter.

  12. So very sad to learn of former BHS classmate and extraordinary individual Will’s passing.
    My most sincere condolences to his wife Janis.
    I will share with our surviving classmates.

  13. I loved working with Will when I was in politics and on the Rochester City School board. His quest for understanding, his implacable commitment to truth and his skillful writing meant that his reporting and his commentary were always an accurate, informative and constructive description of the subject matter. The bright light he shone on our society always highlighted both its beauty and its warts. I will join many others in missing him and his insight.

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