Martin G. Gradel; newsman worked at Inquirer, Times

Martin G. Gradel, 57, a versatile veteran newsman who worked at the Evening Bulletin after school as a teenager and went on to shape the front pages of The Inquirer and the New York Times, died Friday at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital in New York.

The cause of death was an infection, an unexpected complication of a bleeding ulcer diagnosed a few weeks earlier, said his son, Thomas Joseph Gradel.

Mr. Gradel's death shocked colleagues at the Times, where he worked for 14 years, most recently as deputy news editor.

"People here are weeping; they're putting flowers on his desk," said Alison Mitchell, associate managing editor at the Times. "He was, for years, the glue that held our whole weekend operation together."

In the frenzy that is a newsroom on deadline, "Marty was a calm, quiet presence, one of the most modest and nicest people in the newsroom, and one of its most talented," said Times executive editor Bill Keller.

"No one in this newsroom ever saw Marty lose his cool," Keller said. "He had that signature blend of high standards and collegiality that defines the editing craft."

Mr. Gradel was also a major presence in the newsrooms of the News-Journal of Wilmington, the San Jose Mercury News, and the Dallas Times-Herald.

He spent 16 years at The Inquirer, from 1978 to 1994, when he left to join the New York Times. He enjoyed the respect and friendship of former Inquirer editor Eugene L. Roberts Jr., who worked with Mr. Gradel at both papers.

When Mr. Gradel lost his left eye in a home remodeling accident in the 1970s, Roberts offered his vacation home in North Carolina for recuperation.

"He was a superb news editor and played an important role in developing an identifiable look and consistent news standards for The Inquirer when it was being rebuilt and overhauled," Roberts said.

"He was one of the best," said former Inquirer editor Maxwell E.P. King. "And he was a hell of a nice guy."

He was indeed a genial man with a range of interests and a passion for every one of them, said Mary Jo Meisner, the ex-wife with whom he maintained a close friendship.

He was a history buff, an amateur real estate mogul, an art collector who studied at the Barnes Foundation, and a baseball devotee, rooting in turn for the Phillies, the Yankees, and the Red Sox when his son moved to Boston.

Born in Philadelphia on March 24, 1951, Mr. Gradel was one of Joseph and Rose Gradel's 12 children. Both his father and his uncle, Frank, worked in The Inquirer and Daily News library.

A third baseman at Father Judge High School, Mr. Gradel was awarded an athletic scholarship to La Salle University.

"One of the first things I got as a baby was a Phillies cap, which I still have," said Tom Gradel, an aide to Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts.

In June, Mr. Gradel delivered the eulogy for his father, who had lived to 91.

Mr. Gradel got a kick out of noting that he once held the same job as novelist James Michener: sports editor at the Doylestown Intelligencer.

Besides his mother and son, Mr. Gradel is survived by sisters Carolyn Procopio, Rosemarie McCann, Christine Conti, Regina Oliveros, Nora Root and Suzanne Link; and brothers Thomas and Michael.

A viewing will be at 6 p.m. tomorrow at Sannutti Funeral Home, 7101 Torresdale Ave., Philadelphia. The funeral will be at the same location at 9 a.m. Wednesday; interment follows at St. Dominic's Cemetery, 8504 Frankford Ave., Philadelphia.