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Edward Victor Koterba (17 May 1919 – 27 June 1961) was an American journalist known for his nationally syndicated columns "A Bit of Washington" and "Assignment Washington" as well as his investigative journalism for ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
''.


Life and career

Koterba, the son of
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...
immigrants, was born and raised in
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. After graduating from Omaha South High School in 1935, his first newspaper job was as a
copy boy A copy boy is a typically young and junior worker on a newspaper. The job involves taking typed stories from one section of a newspaper to another. According to Bruce Guthrie, the former editor-in-chief of the ''Herald Sun'' who began work there ...
for the ''
Omaha World-Herald The ''Omaha World-Herald'' is a daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, the primary newspaper of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. It was locally owned from its founding in 1885 until 2020, when it was sold to the newspaper ...
''. He briefly attended the University of Omaha in 1939, studying journalism and music while still working part-time for the ''Omaha World-Herald'' as a junior reporter and photographer. In 1940, he began working in Washington D.C. as a secretary in the War Department, and then as a secretary for
Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...
. He was drafted into the army in 1942, and primarily worked in military intelligence posts serving as a Russian and Czech interpreter. His language abilities were key in his placement at Camp Ritchie, Maryland, where he became one of the Ritchie Boys. After the war, he settled in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, where he married Dorothy Chafont in September 1945. He was discharged from active duty in 1946, and began working for '' The Record Herald'' in Waynesboro (which at that time was run by his father-in-law, Floyd Chalfont). During his time at ''The Record Herald'', he served as a reporter and editor, writing a popular daily column called "In Our County" under the pseudonym "Hank Hayseed".Morgret, Ed Koterba (2016) "Introduction". ''The Essential Ed Koterba'', pp. xlix–lii. MCP Books. Hardy, Shawn (20 May 2016)
"Outstanding newspaperman Ed Koterba aka Hank Hayseed remembered"
. '' The Record Herald''. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
When he was hired as a reporter and feature writer for the ''
Washington Times-Herald The ''Washington Times-Herald'' (1939–1954) was an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It was created by Eleanor "Cissy" Patterson of the Medill–McCormick–Patterson family (long-time owners of the ''Chicago Tribune'' ...
'' in 1952, Koterba and his wife moved to
Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...
with their young son. In his downtime, Koterba also began to write a daily column about the lighter side of political life in Washington, D.C. First called "Jottings from Washington" and later "A Bit of Washington", it was initially syndicated to ''The Record Herald'', but was eventually syndicated nationally. When ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' bought the ''Washington Times-Herald'' in 1954, they kept Koterba on as reporter and feature writer. His first big feature for the ''Post'' was a six-part exposé on gambling and election irregularities in Southern Maryland, which ran on the paper's front page and eventually led to two
grand jury A grand jury is a jury empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand ju ...
investigations. Koterba left ''The Washington Post'' in 1955 to concentrate on his column "A Bit of Washington". He also became a frequent contributor to ''
Roll Call ''Roll Call'' is a newspaper and website published in Washington, D.C., United States, when the United States Congress is in session, reporting news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, as well as political coverage of c ...
'' and began writing a second column called "On Tour," in which he chronicled his family's adventures on their trailer tours of the United States. It was picked up by the Hall Syndicate in 1958, who billed Koterba as a "modern
Ernie Pyle Ernest Taylor Pyle (August 3, 1900 – April 18, 1945) was an American journalist and war correspondent who is best known for his stories about ordinary American soldiers during World War II. Pyle is also notable for the Columnist#Newspaper and ...
" and had plans to send him to various far-flung US Armed Forces bases around the world to cover the life of the GIs stationed there. The project came to an end in 1959 when Scripps Howard offered Koterba a job as their nationally syndicated Washington columnist, replacing Frederick Othman following his death in December 1958. The new column, "Assignment Washington" ran until Koterba's own death in 1961 at the age of 42. He was killed on 27 June 1961, along with four other people (including journalist Ned Trimble of the ''
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'') in a private plane crash off the coast of La Push, Washington. On the day following the plane crash,
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...
opened his press conference on the Berlin Crisis with a tribute to Koterba:
I want to first of all express my regret at the information I've just received in regard to the death of our colleague in these press conferences and a fine newspaper man, Ed Koterba, who, I understand, was killed in a plane crash last night. He was a most--he was an outstanding newspaperman who was associated with Scripps-Howard, and we want to express our sympathy to members of his family and also to the papers with which he was associated. I want to say personally that I'm extremely sorry to have heard the news.
Koterba's name is inscribed on the
Newseum The Newseum (April 18, 1997–March 3, 2002 and April 11, 2008–December 31, 2019) was an American museum located first in Rosslyn, Virginia, and later at 555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, in Washington, D.C., dedicated to news and journalism that ...
's Journalists Memorial, along with over 2000 journalists from around the world who died in the course of their duties. In 2016, Koterba's son (who was nine years old at the time of his death) published ''The Essential Ed Koterba'', a collection of his father's columns and articles spanning the course of his career.
Newseum The Newseum (April 18, 1997–March 3, 2002 and April 11, 2008–December 31, 2019) was an American museum located first in Rosslyn, Virginia, and later at 555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, in Washington, D.C., dedicated to news and journalism that ...

"Journalists Memorial: Edward Koterba"
Retrieved 18 October 2017.


References


External links


Excerpts from three of Koterba's columns
on the website dedicated to the book ''The Essential Ed Koterba'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Koterba, Ed 1919 births 1961 deaths Ritchie Boys 20th-century American journalists American male journalists American columnists Journalists from Nebraska The Washington Post journalists Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1961 Accidental deaths in Washington (state)