LOS ANGELES >> John F. "Jack" Burby, former deputy editorial page editor for the Los Angeles Times who started his journalism career in Hawaii, has died. He was 77. JOHN F. 'JACK' BURBY / L.A. TIMES EDITOR
Longtime newsman
had ties to HawaiiHealth official Walter Quisenberry
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Burby died of lung and brain cancer at his Avila Beach home on Saturday, according to the Times.
Burby joined the Times as an editorial writer in 1978 and served as deputy editor of the editorial pages through much of the 1980s. In 1989 he returned to editorial writing full time. He left the paper in the early 1990s and worked briefly for the New York Times, also writing editorials, before retiring.
Burby "was an unusual newspaperman, in that he had the mind of an engineer," said Anthony Day, who was the Los Angeles Times' editorial page editor for 18 years.
"He loved technology, and that love of technology helped him on missile defense issues, including Star Wars," Day said.
Born in Benton Harbor, Mich., Burby was an Army Air Corps pilot during World War II. After his discharge in 1947, Burby took a reporting job with United Press in Hawaii and attended the University of Hawaii. He left the wire service in 1951 and joined the Honolulu Advertiser, working there until he came to the mainland in 1956 for a job at the San Francisco Chronicle.
He worked as press secretary to California Gov. Edmund G. "Pat" Brown in the 1960s. He also worked briefly as special assistant to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Alan Boyd. He then worked as an editor at the National Journal and then as president of Potomac Policy Inc., a federal policy consulting firm that focused on energy and environmental issues.
Burby's wife, Lois Luke, died in 1994. He is survived by longtime companion Joyce Palaia, four children and three grandchildren.
A memorial service will be announced.