Hal Boyle
{{short description|American newspaper journalist (1911–1974)}}
{{redirect|Harold Boyle}}
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.Obituary, [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1951&dat=19740402&id=CnEhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=L4gFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1043,258059 Former Columnist Hal Boyle Dies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216061041/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1951&dat=19740402&id=CnEhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=L4gFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1043,258059 |date=2019-12-16 }}, Tri-City Herald, July 2, 1974 at p. 19. 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.{{cite book|last=Gay|first=Timothy|title=Assignment to Hell: The War Against Nazi Germany with Correspondents Walter Cronkite, Andy Rooney, A.J. Liebling, Homer Bigart, and Hal Boyle|year=2012|publisher=NAL|isbn=978-0451236883|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/assignmenttohell0000gayt}} His column became a staple in over 700 newspapers. 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.
He married Mary Francis Boyle in 1937.
Boyle began his newspaperwork as a copy boy in Kansas City's AP Bureau in 1928. After attending the Junior College of Kansas City,[http://mcckc.edu/services/foundation/alumni/distinguished.asp Metropolitan Community College Alumni], accessed 2012-01-03. he studied journalism at the University of Missouri, graduating with distinction in 1932.{{Cite web |url=http://www.kchistory.org/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/Biographies&CISOPTR=323&filename=324.pdf |title=Kansas City Public Library, Missouri Valley Biography |access-date=2012-11-04 |archive-date=2020-04-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414211856/https://kchistory.org/islandora/search?CISOROOT=/Biographies&CISOPTR=323&filename=324.pdf |url-status=dead }} After working in the AP's St. Louis bureau, he moved to New York in 1936. By the time the United States entered World War II, Boyle had become an assistant city editor with the AP.
Journalism
Boyle received the Pulitzer Prize on May 7, 1945, for his "distinguished correspondence" from the war during 1944.[https://www.nytimes.com/books/99/03/14/specials/copland-pulitzer.html "'Harvey' is Winner of Pulitzer Prize]," New York Times, May 8, 1945. 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.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19510216&id=6ostAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XJ0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=5437,5278073 "Hal Boyle Gets Award]," Reading Eagle, Feb. 16, 1951, at p. 16.
Boyle portrayed himself in the 1945 film dramatization of Ernie Pyle's book, The Story of G.I. Joe.
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.Washington Under the Bomb," Collier's Weekly, 1951.
In 1969 the Associated Press published Help, Help! Another Day!: The World of Hal Boyle.{{cite book|last=Boyle|first=Hal|title=Help! Help! Another Day: The World of Hal Boyle|year=1969|publisher=Associated Press|asin=B0018PXZFI}}
Death and legacy
Boyle died of a heart attack at his home in New York City on April 1, 1974. His death came four months after being diagnosed with "Lou Gehrig's disease" (amytrophic lateral sclerosis). He was buried in Kansas City.
In 1980, a selected set of his columns and articles were republished in The Best of Boyle.{{cite book| last=Boyle| first=Hal| title=The Best of Boyle|year=1980|publisher=Gannett Books|isbn=093009607X}}
The Hal Boyle Award has been awarded by the Overseas Press Club for "Best newspaper or news service reporting from abroad" since 1977.{{cite web | title=Overseas Press Club of America Submission Manager | website=Overseas Press Club of America Submission Manager | date=31 January 2022 | url=https://overseaspressclubofamerica.submittable.com/submit | access-date=5 October 2022}}
Notes
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Category:American newspaper reporters and correspondents
Category:University of Missouri alumni
Category:Writers from Kansas City, Missouri
Category:Pulitzer Prize for Correspondence winners
Category:American war correspondents of World War II