Jack Anderson Ending His Syndicated Column, helped negotiate Peace Corps hostage release in Colombia in 1980
Jack Anderson Ending His Syndicated Column
By Dave Astor
Published: July 23, 2004 11:55 AM EST
Internationally known journalist Jack Anderson (above, center in a rare public appearance in 2000) published a plea to Colombian terrorists, asking them to contact him for private negotiations that would bring about Peace Corps Volunteer Richard Starr's release in 1980. Read "Remember with Honor" for the full story
NEW YORK Renowned investigative reporter Jack Anderson, 81, is immediately ending his long-running column because he's seriously ill with Parkinson's disease.
Anderson had worked on "Washington Merry-Go-Round" -- started in 1932 by Drew Pearson -- since 1947. At its peak, the column appeared in about 1,000 newspapers. It now has 150 or so clients.
"Jack Anderson is an American legend and this is truly the end of an era," said Lisa Klem Wilson, senior vice president and general manager of United Media, which has syndicated Anderson since 1972.
Anderson, who has battled Parkinson's since 1986, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1972 for revealing the Nixon administration's secret tilt toward Pakistan in that country's war with India. The columnist -- a member of President Nixon's infamous "Enemies List" -- also battled McCarthyism, wrote about the CIA's clandestine hiring of Mafia members to try to kill Fidel Castro, published transcripts of the secret Watergate jury, helped uncover the Reagan administration's Iran-contra scandal, and more. Anderson also authored more than a dozen books.
His papers will be housed with the Gelman Library System of George Washington University.
During the next four weeks, United will provide clients with a free retrospective of selected "Washington Merry-Go-Round" columns, including some new comments from Anderson.
Dave Astor (dastor@editorandpublisher.com) is senior editor for E&P.
