Michael Parrish, a former Los Angeles Times business reporter, died recently from liver failure at the age of 67.

A story on its website states, “After moving to the Business section to report on the environment, Parrish was in Alaska on an unrelated assignment when the Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in 1989, according to his friend, Judy Irola. He soon wrote the first of nearly 40 articles on the disaster, including a 1994 front-page story that concluded ‘virtually all the state’s residents’ were suffering in its aftermath.

“During widespread layoffs at The Times in 1995, Parrish lost his job. He discovered his fate when he took a source to lunch and tried to pay the bill with his credit card only to learn the card had been canceled. Irola confirmed the account.

“Parrish went on to freelance for a number of regional and national publications and since 2003 had taught magazine writing and editing at USC.

“He was a ‘committed journalist,’ former Times staff writer Elaine Dutka said in an e-mail, who possessed a ‘crusty yet sensitive soul.’”

Read more here.

Marilyn Grein, who wrote the Saddleback Valley News’ Business Watch column for 16 years, died Saturday at the age of 80.

Brooke Edwards Staggs of The Orange County Register writes, “A Detroit native, Grein had made her way to Orange County and was working as a receptionist when the Orange County Register bought Saddleback Valley News in April 1990. She stayed on with the paper through the transition, eventually asking to work as an assistant in the newsroom.

“Chris Meyer, editor for the Register’s South County team at the time, had decided he was in need of a local business columnist to keep the community updated on what restaurants were opening and which stores were closing down. Though Grein was still working fulltime as a receptionist, answering phones and ordering supplies, Meyer approached her and asked if she’d take on the column.

“‘Initially she was reluctant because she said, ‘I’m not a trained writer, I’m just a receptionist,” Meyer recalled. He assured Grein he’d coach her and that he had faith in her. ‘She actually became quite good at it. In fact, she was probably the best I’ve ever seen at writing a community business column.’

“Grein wrote her columns for Saddleback Valley News in the first person, sharing her experiences in visiting area businesses while also sharing pieces of herself.”

Read more here.

Austin C. Wehrwein, a business reporter who brought home a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting to The Milwaukee Journal, died earlier this week at the age of 92.

Amy Rabideau Silversof the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes, “Wehrwein won the prize for international reporting, writing a 25-part series called ‘Canada’s New Century.’ Wehrwein died of natural causes Tuesday at home in St. Paul, Minn. He was 92.

“Wehrwein traveled Canada coast to coast — by foot, train, plane and car — often writing on the run in hotel rooms. His stories told of Canadian economic development from the point of view of the everyday citizen. Wehrwein reported from the nation’s wheat fields and pulpwood forests, new natural gas and oil fields, developing mine operations, the docks of Toronto and Montreal, and the port of Vancouver.

“The series brought recognition of a neighbor and an economy that many Americans knew little about — and praise from Canadian officials, who hailed the series as ‘a most lucid and observant account’ that could only help to ‘foster good relations between our two countries.’

“Wehrwein was born in Austin, Texas, and raised in Madison. By the time he graduated from Madison’s West High School, all he wanted to do was be a newspaperman.

“‘Dad was one of those fortunate souls who envision what they want to do with their life as a young person and then pretty much manage to live out the dream,’ said his son, Peter Wehrwein.”

Read more here.

Sam Gresock, a former business journalist for The State in Columbia, S.C., died this weekend of a heart attack. He was 39.

John Monk of The State writes, “‘I always admired Sam and thought he was a very good journalist,’ said former State executive business editor and columnist Grant Jackson.

Read more here. He also worked as a business writer for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Pittsburgh Business Times

Patricia Moore, a former business reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times, died July 6 from Alzheimer’s.

Maureen O’Donnell of the Sun-Times writes, “She stayed until the paper folded in 1978, moving on to the Sun-Times, where she worked until the mid-1990s as a real estate writer and business reporter.

“‘She knew all of those people, like the Smiths and Armours,’ said Barbara Varro, former fashion editor and feature writer for the Sun-Times. ‘Pat covered all of those grande dames, all the dowagers.’

“‘She had to deal with the upper crust, but she never took them very seriously, to her credit,’ said former Sun-Times reporter Harlan Draeger.

“At the Daily News, she covered a tour of Lambs Farm by First Lady Betty Ford; Princess Grace of Monaco’s visit to the Chicago discotheque Zorine’s, and the filming of Robert Altman’s ‘A Wedding,’ at a Lake Bluff estate of the Armour meatpacking clan.”

Read more here.

Robert Reno, who wrote a column for Newsday’s business section until retiring in 2003, died at the age of 72. He was the brother of former attorney general Janet Reno.

An Associated Press story states, “Another sister, Maggy Hurchalla, says her brother died Saturday at the Bruce W. Carter Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Miami of complications from Alzheimer’s disease.

“Reno’s column ran in Newsday’s business section. He worked at The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, La., and The Miami Herald before joining Newsday in 1968. His final column ran in 2003.

“He was a third-generation newspaperman. His parents wrote for The Miami Herald and the Miami News and a grandfather was a photographer for the Herald.”

Read more here.