Sayonara John Egan

John Egan, who started work for the state more than 60 years ago shoveling coal into a boiler at Dannemora state prison, was a major player in building Empire State Plaza and in the state's bureaucratic power structure for many decades, is retiring. This is not at all the occasion for some tedious denunciation of the Albany establishment, but a time to acknowledge that Egan seems to have been an exemplary public servant, and was always gracious to any humble reporter who happened to cross his path.