Stan Strachan, a leading chronicler of the banking and mortgage industries, died late Tuesday after suffering a stroke. He was 57.
A former reporter and assistant managing editor at American Banker, Mr. Strachan founded National Thrift News - now National Mortgage News - in 1976.
"With his passing this industry loses one of its longest-term friends and certainly its ablest critic," said mortgage financier Lewis S. Ranieri.
Mr. Strachan was born in London and moved to New York as a child. He began his career 40 years ago as a copyboy at the New York Journal American, and joined American Banker in 1961.
"He could see the crux of a story immediately - and all the implications two minutes later," said H. Bradford Henderson, a former editor of American Banker. "His coverage of the Manufacturers-Hanover merger - a major development in antitrust law with respect to banks - was superb."
National Thrift News won a George K. Polk Award in 1988 for coverage of the savings and loan crisis. Two years later, Mr. Strachan received a lifetime achievement award from the New York Financial Writers Association, which was due to appoint him president this year.
Mr. Strachan has been a guest commentator on Cable News Network and contributed to The New York Times and other general interest publications. He remained publisher of National Mortgage News after it was bought last year by Faulkner & Gray, which is owned by the same parent company as American Banker.
He is survived by his wife, Tobyann, and a daughter, Hillary.
