Burl: Journalism Giant and Medical Trailblazer

by Jane Wolfe

Overview

The riveting biography of Burl Osborne, former chairman of The Associated Press and publisher of The Dallas Morning News, who waged and won one of the last great newspaper wars in the U.S.
Burl is the story of one man’s unlikely rise from the coal mines of Appalachia to the pinnacle of journalism. After being diagnosed with a fatal kidney disease as a child, Burl Osborne pioneered home dialysis treatment and became the 130th person to undergo a live kidney transplant in 1966—then an unproven, high-risk operation.

While managing his challenging illness, Burl distinguished himself early as a writer and reporter with The Associated Press, eventually rising to the top of the wire service’s executive ranks. Then, against the advice of his colleagues and the newspaper’s own doctors, he sought an even greater challenge: joining The Dallas Morning News to lead the fight in one of America’s last great newspaper wars.
 
Throughout his life and career, he garnered respect from business and political leaders, reporters, editors, and publishers around the country. Burl thrusts readers into the improbable and remarkable life of a man at the forefront of both medicine and the golden age of journalism.




 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781524880477
Publisher:	Andrews McMeel Publishing
Publication date:	06/14/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	52 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Jane Wolfe is the author of two previous biographies, The Murchisons: The Rise and Fall of a Texas Dynasty (St. Martin’s Press, New York) and Blood Rich: When Oil Billions, High Fashion, and Royal Intimacies Are Not Enough (Little, Brown & Co., New York). She is also a freelance writer for several publications, including the New York Times and Town & Country magazine. Although she lived in Dallas from 1980 until 2019, she now resides in the city where she was born, Columbus, Ohio, and where her family for many years owned The Columbus Dispatch.
 

Table of Contents

Foreword xv

Part I The Associated Press 1

1 Four Rooms and a Path 3

2 Anybody Here Want to Be a Cub Reporter? 9

3 The First Corvette 15

4 Buckskin and Brownie 21

5 A Little Bit of Everything 28

6 Extraordinary Providence 34

7 The Model-T Days of Dialysis 38

8 The Decision 46

9 Is It Working? 52

10 Imagine What He Could Do with Two Kidneys! 56

11 It's a Nude Story 63

12 Things Are Going to Be Different 70

13 Camelot 78

14 Don't Worry-Go Buy the House 84

15 A Washington Outsider 89

16 Fireworks 97

17 The A-Wire 105

18 Kentuckians in the City 111

19 The Information Business 117

20 The Interview 122

21 A Roll of the Dice 128

Part II The Dallas Morning News 131

22 Big D 133

23 A Trip Back to Washington 139

24 Action! 145

25 EXTRA! EXTRA! 151

26 Get a Bigger Dog 156

27 Sports Day 162

28 The Soul of Dallas 168

29 War of the Words 173

30 Are You Trying to Destroy Each Other? 176

31 Put the Top Down and Go! 181

32 East Meets West 184

33 The Pit Bull 191

34 They'll Be Back 195

35 A Newspaper of Distinction 198

36 A Faster Draw 203

37 Make Sure It's Loaded 208

38 Funny Pages 215

39 Hypothetically Speaking 220

40 The Witness Stand 224

41 Fairness, Accuracy, and Context 230

42 Nobody Beats The Dallas Morning News in the Morning 235

43 A Turtle on a Fence Post 239

44 The Internet 245

45 A Historic Operation 249

Part III Retirement 255

46 Publisher Emeritus 257

47 From Cub Reporter to Chairman 261

48 No Pushover 266

49 And He Lived 270

Acknowledgments 275

Notes 277

Happy Trails 279

Editorial Reviews

06/06/2022

Wolfe (The Murchisons) does justice in this comprehensive biography to the inspiring life of journalist Burl Osborne (1937–2012), who during his career led both the Associated Press and the Dallas Morning News. Born in a Kentucky coal camp, Osborn suffered a bad case of strep throat at age six, wasn’t expected to survive his teen years, and suffered kidney disease, eventual failure, and frequent dialysis. He nevertheless overcame the odds and enrolled in college in 1956, where a chance question from a professor—“Anybody here want to be a cub reporter?”—sparked his career. In 1957, he joined The Ashland Daily Independent, which led to his job at the AP. He climbed the ladder, becoming managing editor in 1977 and being elected chairman by 2001. Meanwhile, his tenure at the Dallas Morning News, which started in 1980, was so successful it ran its city rival out of business. Photos and excerpts from Osborne’s own writing bring his colorful personality to life: he captured the nation’s attention, for example, with reports on a man in West Virginia who nearly lost his dog in a mine shaft but emerged “half laughing and almost crying as he carried his 3-year-old rabbit hound off the mountain.” The result is a moving testament to a consequential figure. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Burl Osborne was a man of talent, determination, and courage against obstacles. All those qualities are reflected in this book. He was a friend and valued colleague—a man I admired.
  (Walter R. Mears, Associated Press reporter for forty-five years and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist)

"Wolfe (The Murchisons) does justice in this comprehensive biography to the inspiring life of journalist Burl Osborne (1937–2012), who during his career led both the Associated Press and the Dallas Morning News. Born in a Kentucky coal camp, Osborn suffered a bad case of strep throat at age six, wasn’t expected to survive his teen years, and suffered kidney disease, eventual failure, and frequent dialysis. He nevertheless overcame the odds and enrolled in college in 1956, where a chance question from a professor—“Anybody here want to be a cub reporter?”—sparked his career. In 1957, he joined The Ashland Daily Independent, which led to his job at the AP. He climbed the ladder, becoming managing editor in 1977 and being elected chairman by 2001. Meanwhile, his tenure at the Dallas Morning News, which started in 1980, was so successful it ran its city rival out of business. Photos and excerpts from Osborne’s own writing bring his colorful personality to life: he captured the nation’s attention, for example, with reports on a man in West Virginia who nearly lost his dog in a mine shaft but emerged “half laughing and almost crying as he carried his 3-year-old rabbit hound off the mountain.” The result is a moving testament to a consequential figure." (Publishers Weekly)

Burl was wildly unique . . . I’ve never met anyone in the media business like him. He was the real deal.
  (Morton H. Meyerson, former executive of Electronic Data Systems and current chairman of 2M Companies, Inc)

Today, more than ever, America needs more Burl Osbornes . . . tough, demanding but compassionate, a fighter, a competitor, and a newsman committed to reporting the news in a balanced, honest,
and fair manner.
  (Dolph C. Simons, Jr., editor of The Lawrence Journal-World and chairman of the World Company)

Burl served on the board of CPJ for fifteen years . . . [He] had an uncanny ability to identify the key issues, ask the relevant questions, and build a consensus around an informed decision. It was a marvel
to watch him work . . . His service contributed enormously to . . . the defense of persecuted journalists around the world seeking to bring the truth to light.
  (Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists)

Every word in Burl rang true to me. I could almost hear him speaking in my ear. I laughed many times and cried a few as well. (Linda Quick, Burl Osborne's longtime friend, business associate, and retired executive vice president of marketing for Foley's department store chain)

From the Publisher