Police have arrested a 21-year-old New York man for the murder of Michael Schrader, the book editor and former copyeditor of Nation’s Restaurant News.
Schrader, aged 68, had retired here in 2005 after working for NRN for 20 years. He continued to review books for the publication as a contributing editor.
Luis Fernando Ortiz has confessed to killing and then robbing Schrader, an acquaintance from New York, at about 9 a.m. on New Year’s Day, according to the Broward’s Sheriff Office. A second man had accompanied Ortiz, but has not been charged with a crime.
Police described Ortiz as a “street hustler” living in a nearby boardinghouse.
Schrader joined NRN in 1985 after a distinguished career as a copyeditor of books and magazines. A Fullbright scholar with a master’s degree in English and a bachelor’s degree in Latin, the longtime New Yorker was hired by NRN shortly after the paper switched to a weekly frequency. Schrader played an integral role in developing style standards and fostering a consistency in the publication’s editorial content.