Richard J. Burke

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 a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

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

Montemaggiore Belsito Montemaggiore Belsito ( Sicilian: ''Muntimaiuri'') is a small town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, Sicily, Southern Italy. It is located about southeast of Palermo, near the ''comunes'' of Cerda and Termini Imerese. Slightly ...

, Palermo, Sicily, and Antonia Fasulo of

Burgio Burgio ( Sicilian: ''Burgiu'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about south of Palermo and about northwest of Agrigento. Burgio borders the following municipalities: Caltabellotta ...

, Agrigento, Sicily. Burke signed-up with Troop E, 121st Cavalry Regiment,

United States National Guard The National Guard is a U.S. state, state-based military force that becomes part of the United States Armed Forces, U.S. military's reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, reserve components of the United States Army, U.S. Army a ...

in the 1930s and, after the Guard was federalised, was stationed at

Fort McClellan Fort McClellan, originally Camp McClellan, is a 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 troops. After t ...

in Alabama from October 15, 1940, until 1941. At the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he and his wife moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

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 WIVB-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Buffalo, New York, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside The CW, CW owned-and-operated station WNLO (TV), WNLO (channel 23). WIVB-TV and WNLO share studios ...

in Buffalo, New York. Later, as a journalist for

the Buffalo Evening News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. On January 29, 2020, the ...

, 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 and most recent Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilic ...

in 1965 and covered Pope Paul's historic appearance before

the United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and security, to develop friendly relations among ...

. 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 (state), 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 so ...

. 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 Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine ** Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

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 Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Erie County, New York, Erie County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of Buffalo, New York, Buffalo. As of 2020, the town had a total population of 129,595. ...

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 Buffalo, New York 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