The North Fork community lost a bright light last week with the passing of 59-year-old Cutchogue resident Sue Miller.
Until she departed the staff nearly 10 years ago, Sue was a longtime and valued member of the Times/Review family. At various times over her 20-year tenure, she served as a staff reporter, editor of The Riverhead News-Review, Long Island Wine Press and other special sections, and interim co-publisher, along with her husband, Jeff Miller, during the year-long sabbatical Joan and I took in 1998-99.
Sue was sharp as a whip, witty, well organized and tenacious. When she had an opinion, she fought for it doggedly. She also was a sparkling writer, a gifted page designer and an outstanding editor. And it was as an editor that she shined brightest, in my opinion. She often spent more time fine-tuning a story than the reporter spent writing it in the first place, always willing to ask the tough questions, to go the extra mile. Much of the hard-hitting journalism that appeared on these pages during her tenure was either written or edited by Sue Miller.
In the years we worked together, I considered Sue both a colleague and a friend.
And that is how I will remember her.