Richard J. Burke
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Richard J. Burke (October 9, 1915 – November 4, 1999) was an Irish-American journalist, poet and playwright. He was born in
Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
on October 9, 1915, the son of Joseph Raymond Burke and Josephine Catherine Keating. He was married on October 19, 1940, to Josephina Battaglia the daughter of Carmelo Battaglia of Monte Maggiore Belsito, Palermo, Sicily, and Antonia Fasulo of Burgio, Agrigento, Sicily. Burke signed-up with Troop E, 121st Cavalry Regiment,
United States National Guard The National Guard is a state-based military force that becomes part of the reserve components of the United States Army and the United States Air Force when activated for federal missions.Fort McClellan Fort McClellan, originally Camp McClellan, is a decommissioned United States Army post located adjacent to the city of Anniston, Alabama. During World War II, it was one of the largest U.S. Army installations, training an estimated half-million tr ...
in Alabama from October 15, 1940, until 1941. At the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, he and his wife moved to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
where he worked for the
United States Office of War Information The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other ...
, handling information for the British, Scandinavian and Russian desks. In the 1950s, he became News Director of WBEN Radio and WBEN-TV in Buffalo, New York. Later, as a journalist for the Buffalo Evening News, he traveled to Rome for the final session of
Vatican II The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...
in 1965 and covered Pope Paul's historic appearance before
the United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
. During his 28-year career at the Buffalo newspaper he received numerous awards, including the New York State Associated Press Association Award for a series of articles entitled Free Wheeling in WNY about his 1972 bicycle tour of
Western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY i ...
. He also wrote a weekly nature column which was illustrated with his own thumbnail sketches. After retiring from the Buffalo Evening News in 1977 he wrote articles on
Spanish galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch Wa ...
hunting and lost treasures for national magazines and researched the Spanish occupation of the Caribbean. He was struck by a speeding motorist in front of his home in
Amherst, New York Amherst () is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. Amherst is an inner ring suburb of Buffalo. As of 2020, the town had a total population of 129,595. This represents an increase from 122,366 as reported in the 2010 census. The second ...
on November 4, 1999. At the time of his death he was working on a screenplay and several plays. Sources: Adrian Benjamin Burke, "Tracing Richard J Burke, Irish-American journalist, poet and playwright and his Irish forbears", The Irish Genealogist, Vol. 11, No. 4, 2005, pp. 257–270; Obituary: "RICHARD J. BURKE DIES; AWARD-WINNING REPORTER, PLAYWRIGHT COVERED RELIGION, NATURE FOR NEWS", The Buffalo News, 6 November 1999. {{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Richard J. 1915 births 1999 deaths American people of Irish descent Writers from Buffalo, New York Journalists from New York (state) Journalists from Upstate New York 20th-century American non-fiction writers People of the United States Office of War Information United States Army soldiers New York National Guard personnel 20th-century American journalists American male journalists 20th-century American male writers