George Peter Anthan (June 2, 1936 – August 17, 2016) was an American journalist. He was the Washington Bureau Chief for the ''

Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the junction ...

''.

Biography

Anthan was born in

St. Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...

, in 1936, and was a graduate of the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

School of Journalism. He spent his early career reporting in Valley Junction and

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

, for the ''

Des Moines Tribune ''The Des Moines Tribune'' was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Des Moines, Iowa. It was founded in 1906 and purchased in 1908 by the Cowles family, which owned the ''Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily mornin ...

''. In 1971, he joined the ''

Register Register or registration may refer to: Arts entertainment, and media Music * Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc. * ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller * Registration (organ), the ...

''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 the ''Des Moines Register'' when I was assigned to cover the

Iowa State Fair The Iowa State Fair is an annual state fair held in Des Moines, Iowa in August. It began in 1854 and has been held on the Iowa State Fairgrounds since 1886. It is based in the state capital Des Moines, Iowa over an 11 day period in August. With ...

. And immediately—which is a treasured assignment, since the book ''

State Fair A state fair is an annual competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. state's population, usually held in late summer or early fall. It is a larger version of a county fair, often including only exhibits or competitors that have won in th ...

'' was written by a ''Des Moines Register'' reporter — and I immediately identified in the caption some purebred swine as

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

s. It was the only time in my 40-some-year career at the ''Des Moines Register'' that I heard the words, 'Stop the presses.'" Anthan used an

Underwood Underwood may refer to: People *Underwood (surname), people with the surname Places United States * Underwood, Shelby County, Alabama * Underwood, Indiana * Underwood, Iowa * Underwood, Minnesota * Underwood, New York * Underwood, North Dakota * ...

and then an IBM Selectric II typewriter for most of his career.

Personal life and death

An avid bicyclist, Anthan rode his bike between his home in suburban Maryland and his office in the National Press Building for 30 years, logging over 100,000 miles in all. A close friend,

Donald Kaul Donald William Kaul (December 25, 1934 – July 22, 2018) was an American journalist and pundit. He received a bachelor's degree in 1958 from the University of Michigan, where he also obtained a master's degree in journalism in 1960. A finalist ...

, lured Anthan back to Iowa each year beginning in 1974 to ride his bicycle across the state in

RAGBRAI RAGBRAI is an acronym and registered trademark for the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, which is a non-competitive bicycle ride organized by ''The Des Moines Register.'' The course runs across the state of Iowa from west to east ...

, now the world's largest bicycle ride, which Kaul and John Karras started in 1973. Anthan was a member of the

Gridiron Club The Gridiron Club is the oldest and among the most prestigious journalistic organizations in Washington, D.C. History Frank A. De Puy (1854–1927) was one of several who met January 24, 1885, at the Welcker's Hotel in Washington, D.C. – 7 ...

. He died on August 17, 2016, at the age of 80 from cardiac arrest. He was survived by his wife Ann Anthan, a Missouri native, lover of dogs, and road racing enthusiast.

Awards

Anthan was the winner of several awards for outstanding journalism, including the

Raymond Clapper Memorial Award The Raymond Clapper Memorial Award, later called the Washington Reporting Raymond Clapper Award, was an American journalism award presented from 1944 to 2011. Named in honor of Raymond Clapper (1892–1944), the award was given "to a journalist o ...

(three times) and

National Press Club Organizations A press club is an organization for journalists and others professionally engaged in the production and dissemination of news. A press club whose membership is defined by the press of a given country may be known as a National Press ...

awards. He was twice a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

finalist. Anthan also won an

Alicia Patterson Journalism Fellowship The Alicia Patterson Foundation (APF) program was established in 1965 in memory of Alicia Patterson Alicia Patterson (October 15, 1906 – July 2, 1963) was an American journalist, the founder and editor of ''Newsday''. With Neysa McMein, she cre ...

in 2004 to research and write about the de-population of the northern Great Plains.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anthan, George 1936 births 2016 deaths Journalists from Washington, D.C. University of Kansas alumni