George Anthan
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(April 2022) |
George Peter Anthan(June 2, 1936 – August 17, 2016) was an American journalist. He was theWashington Bureau Chieffor theDes Moines Register.[1]
Biography
[edit]Anthan was born inSt. Joseph, Missouri,in 1936, and was a graduate of theUniversity of KansasSchool of Journalism.[2]
He spent his early career reporting inValley JunctionandDes Moines, Iowa,for theDes Moines Tribune.In 1971, he joined theRegister's prestigious Washington, D.C., bureau. There he covered agriculture, food safety, and farm policy issues for 30 years.
Anthan stated, "My credentials for covering agriculture were established in my first several weeks working for theDes Moines Registerwhen I was assigned to cover theIowa State Fair.And immediately—which is a treasured assignment, since the bookState Fairwas written by aDes Moines Registerreporter — and I immediately identified in the caption some purebredswineasHerefords.It was the only time in my 40-some-year career at theDes Moines Registerthat I heard the words, 'Stop the presses.' "[citation needed]
Anthan used anUnderwoodand then anIBM Selectric IItypewriter for most of his career.
Personal life and death
[edit]An avid bicyclist, Anthan rode his bike between his home in suburban Maryland and his office in theNational Press Buildingfor 30 years, logging over 100,000 miles in all. A close friend,Donald Kaul,lured Anthan back to Iowa each year beginning in 1974 to ride his bicycle across the state inRAGBRAI,[2]now the world's largest bicycle ride,[3]which Kaul and John Karras started in 1973.[4]
Anthan was a member of theGridiron Club.
He died on August 17, 2016, at the age of 80 from cardiac arrest.[5][2]He was survived by his wife Ann Anthan, a Missouri native, lover of dogs, and road racing enthusiast.
Awards
[edit]Anthan was the winner of several awards for outstanding journalism, including theRaymond Clapper Memorial Award(three times)[2][6]andNational Press Clubawards. He was twice aPulitzer Prizefinalist.[1][7]Anthan also won anAlicia Patterson Journalism Fellowship [8]in 2004 to research and write about the de-population of the northern Great Plains.
References
[edit]- ^abDon Campbell; Wendall Cochrane (2003).Inside the beltway: a guide to Washington reporting.Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 57, 93.ISBN978-0-8138-1494-0.Retrieved11 January2011.
- ^abcdPfannenstiel, Brianne (Aug 18, 2016)."Former Register bureau chief, Pulitzer finalist George Anthan dies".Des Moines Register.
- ^Crosbie, Nicole (February 5, 2014)."Rock Valley Selected to Host RAGBRAI this July".Sioux County Index Reporter.Archived fromthe originalon February 22, 2014.RetrievedFebruary 5,2014.
- ^Karras, John & Karras, Ann (1999).RAGBRAI: Everyone Pronounces It Wrong.Iowa City: Iowa State University Press.ISBN978-1-58729-538-6.
- ^"George Anthan, journalist and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, dies at 80".Washington Post.
- ^Journalism Institute."Raymond Clapper Memorial Award winners (1944 to 2011)".National Press Club.RetrievedNov 15,2023.
- ^"National Reporting".The Pulitzer Prizes.Columbia University.Retrieved11 January2011.
- ^"Alicia Patterson Foundation".aliciapatterson.org.