An association for alumni and supporters of The Daily Texan, student newspaper at the University of Texas at Austin

In Memoriam

In Memoriam: Sam Blair

Sam Blair Died Dec. 11, 2022 Dallas Sam Blair, a member of The Daily Texan Hall of Fame,  passed away peacefully on December 11, 2022 at the age of 90. At alma maters Woodrow Wilson High School and The University of Texas at Austin, he thrived at writing for the school newspapers. He parlayed that love into a 41-year career at The Dallas Morning News as columnist and sports editor, wrote nine books and hundreds of magazine articles, and won numerous national awards. The first North Texas sportswriter to cover pro football, he was inducted into the Texas High School […]

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In Memoriam: Nancy McMeans Richey

Nancy McMeans Richey Died Aug. 5 San Antonio   Nancy McMeans Richey, the fifth woman editor of The Daily Texan, died  Aug. 5 in San Antonio, Texas. Nancy, who was born in Sandusky, Michigan, on Sept. 11, 1932 and spent her childhood in Michigan, Colorado and Texas. Like many children of the Depression, she became an industrious, hard-working and frugal woman. She attended and was graduated from the University of Texas, and was elected editor of The Daily Texan. Well-known journalist and UT journalism instructor Griff Singer was a classmate of Nancy and worked with her on The Texan through […]

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In Memoriam: Paul Joel Burka

Died Aug. 14, 2022 Paul Joel Burka Austin Paul Burka, a long-time Texas Monthly editor and writer, died Sunday, Aug. 14. Burka got his start at The Daily Texan. Long-time friend Hugh Rice Kelly remembers Paul’s days at The Texan: “Paul was legendary at the Daily Texan not only for the quality but also for the length of his football articles. This generated astonishment by the printers on one occasion, when they informed Paul that his article was eight inches too long: “Cut the first eight [para]graphs,” Paul said, without even looking up.” Below is an article from The Texas […]

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In Memoriam: Edwin Strode Hughes

Died June 30, 2022 Albuquerque 85 Edwin Strode Hughes, 85, a former sports editor of The Daily Texan and former Dallas newsman and corporate public relations manager, passed away on Thursday, June 30. He had lived in Albuquerque for the past eight years and spent more than 60 years in public relations and advertising, including 25 years with Southwestern Bell Telephone and the AT&T Bell System. Known by his friends as Eddie, he was a native of Austin, Texas, the son of Frank Miller and Lorine Mitchell Hughes, born on October 6, 1936 along with his twin brother, Mitchell Sample […]

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In Memoriam: Jeanne Barbara Janes

Died June 25, 2022 Seguin 71   Jeanne Barbara Janes, APR, a veteran public relations executive and former broadcaster, died Saturday, June 25, in Seguin, Texas, after a long illness. She was 71. Her last two weeks were marked by an avalanche of birthday cards, flowers and gifts from friends, family, colleagues, former clients and mentees. Born June 9, 1951, in Pennsylvania, she was named for her mother’s mother. Her family moved to Houston in the 1960s, and she graduated from Westbury High School in 1969. After a brief stint at the University of Houston, she transferred to the University […]

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In Memoriam: Nikki Buskey

Died Jan. 18, 2022 38 Corpus Christi She worked on The Texan 2004-06 as a general reporter senior reporter, associate news editor, associate editor and news editor. After graduation, she was an environment and health reporter for The Houma Courier and The Thibodaux Daily Comet newspapers in southern Louisiana. Then she was a marketing and communication specialist at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana, and communication manager for the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.

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In Memoriam: Dotty Griffith

Died Sept. 13, 2021 Pancreatic cancer Dallas She worked on The Texan 1970-72 as a reporter who became part of a four-member team covering state politics and doing investigative work. She was elected to The Daily Texan Hall of Fame. She spent most of her career at The Dallas Morning News, where, after starting as a general-assignment reporter, she became food editor and restaurant critic. After leaving The News, she was a fundraiser for the Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

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In Memoriam: Joe Galloway

Died Aug. 18, 2021 Complications of a heart attack Joe Galloway, a native of Refugio, Texas and one of America’s most outstanding war journalists, died Aug. 18 in North Carolina at the age of 79. If you don’t know Joe, you may recall his book, “We Were Soldiers Once – And Young,” co-authored with Lt. Gen. Hal Moore. The book was turned into a movie of the same name, starring Mel Gibson and Samuel Elliott, and focusing on the first major battle during the Vietnam War. Joe was a journalist trying to get a better look at the real war, […]

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In Memoriam: Chandler Davidson

Died April 10, 2021 Brain inflammation Houston He was a columnist for The Texan in the early 1960s. After graduating with a degree in philosophy, he earned master’s and doctoral degrees in sociology at Princeton University. He became a scholar of voting rights and co-founded Rice University’s sociology department. He spent his life advocating for racial equality, social justice and voting rights, and was often sought out by legislators and lawyers for his expertise. Davidson’s scholarly work was cited in several court opinions around the country. In the early 1990s, Davidson teamed up with political scientist and University of California […]

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In Memoriam: Sara Lee Speights

Died Feb. 17, 2021 Complications of a stroke Austin She worked on The Texan as a reporter in 1963 and 1964 and was amusements editor in 1965-66. She was a reporter, then political assistant for Texas legislators and Governor. Mark White. All Democrats. Lobbyist for home health care groups. She also was on the staff of the Texas Health Department.

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