Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist Jack Anderson Dies at 83

Jack Anderson the Pulitzer Prize winning columnist passed away this morning after a long battle with Parkinsons disease. The devote Mormon was born October 19th 1922 in southern California and began his newspaper writing carer at age 12, covering scouting and community activities for a Salt Lake area paper. After a stint as a civilian war correspondent in WWII, Anderson made his way to Washington D.C., apprenticing at, and later writing the popular 'Washington Merry-Go-Round' column, that at its height was circulated in more then 1,000 papers nation wide.

Anderson won his Pulitzer for a 1972 investigative report on the Nixon administrations involvment in the India/Pakistan War. He was also involved in the publication of transcripts of the Watergate grand jury. High on Nixons famous enemy's list, it has been reported that G. Gordon Liddy personally offered to kill him for the President. Jack Anderson also served as a political commentator in the early days of ABC's 'Good Morning America'.

Jack Anderson is survived by his wife Oliva, nine children, and many other relatives including my Maryville area ward mission leader.