Article content material
Steven R. Hurst, who over a decades-long profession in journalism lined main world occasions together with the top of the Soviet Union and the Iraq Battle as he labored for information retailers together with The Related Press, NBC and CNN, has died. He was 77.
Commercial 2
Article content material
Hurst, who retired from AP in 2016, died someday between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning at his house in Decatur, Ailing., his daughter, Ellen Hurst, mentioned Friday. She mentioned his household didn’t know a reason for dying however mentioned he had congestive coronary heart failure.
“Steve had a front-row seat to among the most important world tales, and he cared deeply about making certain folks all over the world understood the historical past unfolding earlier than them,” mentioned Julie Tempo, AP’s govt editor and senior vice chairman. “Working alongside him was additionally a grasp class in the right way to get to the guts of a narrative and win on the largest breaking information.”
He first joined the AP in 1976 as a correspondent in Columbus, Ohio, after working on the Decatur Herald and Overview in Illinois. The following yr, he went to work for AP in Washington after which to the worldwide desk earlier than being despatched to Moscow in 1979. He then did a quick stint in Turkey earlier than returning to Moscow in 1981 as bureau chief.
Your Noon Solar
Article content material
Commercial 3
Article content material
He left AP within the mid-Nineteen Eighties, working for NBC after which CNN.
Reflecting on his profession upon retirement, Hurst mentioned in Connecting, a e-newsletter distributed to present and former AP staff by a retired AP journalist, {that a} profession spotlight got here when he lined the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 whereas he was working for CNN.
“I interviewed Boris Yeltsin stay within the Russian White Home as he was about to turn into the brand new chief, earlier than heading in a police escort to the Kremlin the place we lined Mikhail Gorbachev, stay, signing the papers dissolving the Soviet Union,” Hurst mentioned. “I then interviewed Gorbachev stay in his workplace.”
Hurst returned to AP in 2000, finally turning into assistant worldwide editor in New York. Previous to his appointment as chief of bureau in Iraq in 2006, Hurst had rotated out and in of Baghdad as a chief editor for 3 years and likewise wrote from Cairo, Egypt, the place he was briefly based mostly.
Commercial 4
Article content material
He spent the final eight years of his profession in Washington writing about U.S. politics and authorities.
Hurst, who was born on March 13, 1947, grew up in Decatur and graduated from of Millikin College, which is situated there. He additionally had a grasp’s in journalism from the College of Missouri.
‘AMAZING STORYTELLER’
Ellen Hurst mentioned her father was humorous and sensible, and was “an incredible storyteller.”
“He’d seen a lot,” she mentioned.
She mentioned his profession as a journalist allowed him to see the world, and he had a fantastic understanding from his work about how massive occasions affected particular person folks.
“He was very sympathetic to folks the world over and I believe that an expertise as a journalist actually elevated that,” Ellen Hurst mentioned.
His spouse Kathy Beaman died shortly after Hurst retired. Along with his daughter, Ellen Hurst, he’s additionally survived by daughters Sally Hurst and Anne Alavi and 4 grandchildren.
“Past his exceptional profession, Steve was the consummate gentleman, treating everybody round him with respect and kindness,” mentioned Ken Guggenheim, a information editor in AP’s Washington bureau. “I recall particularly his care and help for his spouse Kathy throughout her robust battle towards most cancers and the way proud he was of his daughters.”
RECOMMENDED VIDEO
We apologize, however this video has didn’t load.
Article content material
