Aug. 30, 1953 – Oct. 4, 2025

Gary Spencer, who reported on the Love Canal environmental crisis in Niagara Falls for the Buffalo Courier-Express in the late 1970s and went on to become spokesman for the state's highest court in Albany, died suddenly Oct. 4 while traveling near his home in Altamont, west of Albany. He was 72.

Mr. Spencer shared special honors at the Buffalo Newspaper Guild Page One Awards in 1979 with Buffalo News reporters Paul MacClennan and David Shribman for coverage of ongoing developments at Love Canal.

He won two other Page One awards that year, one in the News Under Deadline category for a Love Canal story and another for News Not Under Deadline for a story on the occupation of state lands by Mohawk Indians.

Born in Eugene, Ore., he was the older of two sons

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