It’s not every day you get a chance to rub elbows with a big-time journalist whose resume is nationally recognized and in tune with some of this country’s most esteemed newspaper and television reporters.

Sitting alongside Sean Daly the other day made me realize how professional some people are in their chosen field of work. Sean is certainly one of those individuals. No matter where he travels, Sean is recognized far and wide.

“Money was never the thing with me,” he said during this particular interview at a nearby Dunkin Donuts. “Talking to people and trying to be a positive force in this world is what it was all about.”

To fully understand the magnitude of this man’s contributions throughout his 42 years in journalism, let’s go back in time and review how it all started.

Born in Washington, D.C., to John and Lucille Daly, Sean was one of eight children. He was brought up in Chevy Chase, Md., and later graduated from American University as a History major. He was also the grandson of John J. Daly, an esteemed member of the Washington Post staff. So, there lies some of his pedigree.

Sean’s immediate rise to prominence began just as the Watergate scandal broke wide open.

“I had the extreme good fortune to land a job at NBC News in my hometown of Washington, D.C.,” he recalled. “For six years, I worked with and learned from some of the biggest talents in network TV news, including David Brinkley, John Chancellor, Tom Brokaw, Linda Ellerbee and Tom Pettit, among many others. From each of them, in myriad ways, I learned that television news at its best is a seamless marriage of well-chosen words and well-chosen pictures and sounds.”

From there, Sean began making his mark as a news reporter at WDSU-TV in New Orleans from 1979-1981, and then as a FOX News reporter in Chicago from 1993-1994.

His big break here in Rhode Island came during his 17 years as news reporter for ABC6-TV, where he won numerous journalism awards, including two Emmys and multiple AP and UPI honors. He established a firm reputation as the station’s top reporter. From there, Sean excelled as a Boston Bureau reporter and producer for a nationally-distributed program headquartered in Washington, D.C. called, ”Business Now.”

Later, from 2001-2002, Sean worked as a Media Production Specialist out of the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office in Dartmouth, Ma., writing and producing videotaped reports for cable TV of inmates participating in various rehabilitative programs.

Back here in Rhode Island from 2002-2015, as a news reporter for WPRI-TV and WNAC-TV (Fox), Sean Daly continued to gain acclaim.

“I was recruited back to TV news in Rhode Island for coverage of the corruption trial of the sitting mayor of Providence, Vincent “Buddy” Cianci,” he explained. “For the next 13 years, I covered practically every major story in the region.” In 2014, a readers’ poll in Rhode Island Monthly Magazine named Sean “Best Male TV Reporter.”

Since 2015, when he retired after more than four decades in TV news, Sean has been “happily chasing light in addition to news.”     

“I worked with a longtime TV news photographer pal to produce a coffee table book of lighthouses on duty at night under skies exploding with stars,” he said. “I also conduct interviews and produce TV news stories for clients such as The MacArthur Foundation on a variety of topics.”

But that’s not all, Sean has written for The Providence Journal, as well as his siblings and has published an annual family newspaper entitled “The Daly Greeting,” which is comically referred to as ”the only Daly newspaper published annually.”

“My late grandfather first published it in 1916 as a cleaver visual twist on the traditional Christmas card,” said Sean.

Having lived in Barrington for over 30 years, and enjoying every bit of it, Sean is married to Anne Barada Daly and is the father of three children: Thomas, Anne, and Meg. He also has one grandchild, 18-month-old, Lucy Daly.

“I love Barrington,” he gushed. “It’s been very good to us. The schools here were a big draw. Jim Hummel who lives here is one of my best friends. Quite frankly, I love this town and everything about it. I’m a family guy and that was important to me.”   

As much as Sean has relished covering the news from every angle imaginable, today he enjoys viewing the world and all that it has to offer from behind the camera.

“Photography has been one of the gifts of my life,” he noted. “I started with my Dad. I enjoy it now more than ever. It’s a window of the world. I can’t imagine not having a camera.”

Some of Sean’s photographic work has been simply astonishing. This energetic retiree (if you want to call him that) continues to meet new challenges…along his heralded trail of success.

As he emphasized in closing, “Talking to people and trying to be a positive force in this world has been very important to me.” Sean Daly obviously has met and exceeded all of his expectations in life.