Hal Boyle

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"Harold Boyle" redirects here. For other uses, see Harold Boyle (disambiguation).

Harold Vincent "Hal" Boyle (July 24, 1911 – April 1, 1974) was a prolific, Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist for the Associated Press. During 30 years with the AP Boyle wrote 7,680 columns.[1] He is best known for his work as a war correspondent during World War II. He was consistently closer to the front lines in the European and Pacific theatres of operation than other correspondents.[2] His column became a staple in over 700 newspapers.[1] He is also the namesake of a prize given annually to reporters by the Oversees Press Club of America, for the best newspaper or wire service reporting from abroad.

Background[]

Boyle was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on July 24, 1911, the son of butcher Peter E. Boyle and his wife Margarit, an Irish immigrant farm girl.[2]

He married Mary Francis Boyle in 1937.[2]

Boyle began his newspaperwork as a copy boy in Kansas City's AP Bureau in 1928. After attending the Junior College of Kansas City (Now Metropolitan Community College),[3] he studied journalism at the University of Missouri, graduating with distinction in 1932.[4] After working in the AP's St. Louis bureau, he moved to New York in 1936.[1] By the time the United States entered World War II, Boyle had become an assistant city editor with the AP.[2]

Prizewinning Journalism[]

Boyle received the Pulitzer Prize on May 7, 1945 for his "distinguished correspondence" from the war during 1944.[5] In 1951, the Veterans of Foreign Wars awarded him the Omar Bradley Award, given for the most distinguished contribution to national security, for his coverage of the Korean War.[6]

Boyle portrayed himself in the 1945 film dramatization of Ernie Pyle's book, "The Story of G.I. Joe."[2]

In 1951, Boyle contributed a section to a Collier's Weekly special publication entitled "Preview of the War We Do Not Want." Consistent with the book's purpose to depict the effects of a hypothetical future war with another nuclear power, Boyle's piece (entitled "Washington Under the Bomb") described, in the form of a news story, the aftermath of dropping one nuclear bomb on Washington D.C.[7]

In 1969 the Associated Press published "Help, Help! Another Day!: The World of Hal Boyle."[8]

Boyle died of a heart attack at his home in New York City on April 1, 1974.[1] His death came four months after being diagnosed with "Lou Gehrig's disease" (amytrophic lateral sclerosis).[1] He was laid to rest in Kansas City.

In 1980, a selected set of his columns and articles were republished in "The Best of Boyle."[9]

Notes[]

  1. ^ a b c d e Obituary, Former Columnist Hal Boyle Dies, Tri-City Herald, July 2, 1974 at p. 19.
  2. ^ a b c d e Gay, Timothy (2012). Assignment to Hell: The War Against Nazi Germany with Correspondents Walter Cronkite, Andy Rooney, A.J. Liebling, Homer Bigart, and Hal Boyle. NAL. ISBN 978-0451236883.
  3. ^ Metropolitan Community College Alumni, accessed 2012-01-03.
  4. ^ Kansas City Public Library, Missouri Valley Biography
  5. ^ "'Harvey' is Winner of Pulitzer Prize," New York Times, May 8, 1945.
  6. ^ "Hal Boyle Gets Award," Reading Eagle, Feb. 16, 1951, at p. 16.
  7. ^ Washington Under the Bomb," Collier's Weekly, 1951.
  8. ^ Boyle, Hal (1969). Help! Help! Another Day: The World of Hal Boyle. Associated Press. ASIN B0018PXZFI.
  9. ^ Boyle, Hal (1980). The Best of Boyle. Gannett Books. ISBN 093009607X.
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