Oscar Griffin Jr.

{{Infobox person

| name = Oscar Griffin Jr.

| birth_name = Oscar O'Neal Griffin Jr.

| birth_date = {{birth date|1933|4|28}}

| birth_place = Daisetta, Texas, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2011|11|23|1933|4|28}}

| death_place = New Waverly, Texas, U.S.

| occupation = journalist

|awards=1963 Pulitzer Prize

|spouse=Patricia Lamb Griffin (1955-2011 his death)

|children=4

|education={{Plainlist|

Liberty (TX) High School 1950
University of Texas at Austin, Bachelor of Journalism 1958
Harvard Business School, OPM 6 1982}}

|module=

{{Infobox military person

|embed=yes

| allegiance = {{USA}}

| branch = U.S. Army

| serviceyears = 1953-1955

}}

|footnotes=

{{cite book

|isbn=1-57356-111-8 |access-date=2014-03-12

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=63nvmt4HqTEC&pg=PA397 }}{{cite web

|title=Oscar Griffin Jr. – Moody College of Communication

|publisher=University of Texas at Austin

|access-date=2014-03-12

|url=http://moody.utexas.edu/alumni/pulitzers/oscar-griffin-jr

|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140312070815/http://moody.utexas.edu/alumni/pulitzers/oscar-griffin-jr

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=March 12, 2014

}}

{{cite web

|title=Noted & Quoted - Alumni - Harvard Business School

|date=March 1, 2012 |publisher=Harvard Business School

|access-date=2014-03-12 |url=https://www.alumni.hbs.edu/stories/Pages/story-bulletin.aspx?num=821}}

{{cite news

|newspaper=The Courier of Montgomery County |title=Oscar O'Neal Griffin Jr. Obituary

|access-date=2014-03-12 |url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/courier/obituary.aspx?pid=154819097}}

{{cite news

|newspaper=The New York Times |author-link=Douglas Martin (journalist) |first=Douglas |last=Martin

|title=Oscar Griffin Jr., 78, Pulitzer Prize Winner Who Brought Down Scheming Texas Tycoon, Dies

|date=December 10, 2011 |access-date=2014-03-12

|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/us/oscar-griffin-jr-78-pulitzer-prize-winner-who-brought-down-scheming-texas-tycoon-dies.html?_r=0}}

{{cite news

|newspaper=The Washington Post |title=Of note: Don DeVito, Oscar Griffin Jr., Gary Speed

|date=November 29, 2011 |access-date=2014-03-12

|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/of-note-don-devito-oscar-griffin-jr-gary-speed/2011/11/29/gIQATJdY9N_story.html}}

}}

Oscar O'Neal Griffin Jr. (April 28, 1933 – November 23, 2011) was an American journalist.

Early life and education

Griffin was born in Daisetta, Texas, and obtained his degree from the University of Texas in 1958. In 1982, he completed Harvard Business School's executive education program for Owner/President Management (OPM).

Career

Griffin was the editor of the Pecos Independent and Enterprise. During his time here, he was a reporter and editor. Prior to that time, he served in the Army in the 1950s. After graduating from the University of Texas, he worked at a number of small newspapers before his stint at the Pecos, Texas Independent and Enterprise. In 1962, he began working for the Houston Chronicle, where he was responsible for covering the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.

Griffin was assistant director of Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. (1969-1974.) After coming back to Texas, he founded Griffin Well Service, an oil company in El Campo.

Awards and honors

Griffin won the 1963 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting (No Edition Time), as editor at the Independent and Enterprise, for directing its investigation of the fraud scandal involving Billie Sol Estes in 1962.[http://www.pulitzer.org/awards/1963 "1963 Winners"]. The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved October 26, 2013.{{cite news

|newspaper=The Pecos Independent and Enterprise |date=March 1, 1962 |title=Tank transactions soar to $34 million

}} (Third in a series)

Family

Griffin was married to the former Patricia Lamb for 56 years. Together they had three daughters and a son: Gwendolyn Pryor, Amanda Ward, Marguerite Horne, and Gregory Griffin. They also had seven grandchildren.

Death

Griffin died in New Waverly, Texas, where he lived, on November 23, 2011, at the age of 78, of cancer.{{cite web|last=Martin|first=Douglas|title=Oscar Griffin Jr., 78, Pulitzer Prize Winner Winner Who Brought Down Scheming Texas Tycoon, Dies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/us/oscar-griffin-jr-78-pulitzer-prize-winner-who-brought-down-scheming-texas-tycoon-dies.html?_r=0|newspaper=The New York Times |date=10 December 2011 |access-date=16 July 2013}}

Publications

{{cite book |lccn=86070715 |title=The three wars of Roy Benavidez |author-link1=Roy P. Benavidez |last1=Benavidez |first1=Roy P. |author-link2=Oscar Griffin Jr. |first2=Oscar |last2=Griffin

|location=San Antonio, Texas |publisher=Corona Pub. Co. |year=1986 |isbn=0931722586}}