Samuel Boyle

Background

He was born in Philadelphia to a newspaper family. His father, Samuel Boyle, III, was a newspaper editors

Career

He oversaw Associated Press"s coverage of high-profile events, including the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Sam Boyle joined the Associated Press in Newark, New Jersey in 1971, then transferred to the Philadelphia bureau in 1972. Over the next 7 years he moved from Associated Press"s political desk to the national desk at New York City headquarters, and then to deputy business editors

In 1981, Sam Boyle was appointed chief of bureau for West Virginia, and the following year he was named bureau chief in New York City.

When terrorist-hijacked airplanes destroyed the World Trade Center"s twin towers, Boyle managed the New York City bureau through its most tumultuous day ever, coordinating main stories and sidebars from staffers at desks and in the streets, even taking dictation by telephone. He died on February 3, 2008, aged 59, after a long battle with lung cancer.

Just a few months previously he was forced, due to his illness, to relinquish his role as an adjunct faculty member at Columbia University"s Graduate School of Journalism, where he had taught for nearly two years.

Connections

Uncle:

Robert Boyle