William Buchanan

William Buchanan, of Florida and Massachusetts, a longtime newspaperman who reported and wrote for three Boston papers in a 40-year career before his retirement in 1988, passed away in Oviedo, FL, on Nov. 15, 2015. He was 90. A native of Boston who later moved to Milton, where he was an accomplished member of the high school track team, Mr. Buchanan earned his college degree at Northeastern University in 1947, and went directly to the Boston Herald and a life in journalism, or “newspapering,” as he liked to call it. He was a reporter and broadcast columnist at the Herald from 1947 to 1956, a radio-TV critic at the Boston Record from 1956 to 1961, and a reporter, feature writer, city-desk editor, obituary editor, and copy editor at the Boston Globe from 1961 to 1988. While working at the newspapers, especially in the early days, he found time to send jazz out over the airwaves at radio stations WJDA, WBZ, and WPLM. Mr. Buchanan’s life as a reporter had its highlights. Reporting from Boston Police Headquarters for the Herald, he was on duty in January 1950 helping on the coverage of the famous Brink’s robbery. For all three newspapers he wrote many well-played feature stories, including taking to the streets of Boston as a vagrant for the Globe and working with narcotics detective to identify criminals at work. In September of 1964, he took up residence in Harlem following that summer’s race riots, and won an Associated Press award for his memorable recap of his experiences there. In all his reporting and writing, Mr. Buchanan was a stickler for accuracy, earning the nickname “Street Sign Buchanan” for his meticulous knowledge of streets and neighborhood boundaries within Boston. In 2008, 20 years after retirement, he was inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame as a radio historian, award-winning reporter, and media critic. Later, while on vacations in Germany and Spain, Mr. Buchanan interviewed the German Carl Doenitz, commanding admiral of Hitler’s navy, and the famed Nazi commando Otto Skorzeny for the Globe. Mr. Buchanan continued working on his German until his final years and maintained lifelong correspondences (via the US Postal Service) with many friends. He was a longtime season ticketholder of the New England Patriots and for many years he kept up an acquaintance with the Rooney family, owners of the Pittsburgh Steelers. His beloved wife of 40 years, Audrey (Lewis), predeceased him in 2013 as did his grandson Stetson Laronde. He leaves his daughters Barbara Laronde and her husband Richard of Walpole, MA.; Linda Rich and her husband Randall of Longwood, Florida; Margot Lewis and her husband William Bogardus of New York City; and grandchildren Carter Laronde, Michael Rich and his wife Sara, Gregory Rich and his wife Kelly, Cheryl Zinno and her husband Nathaniel, and six great-granddaughters. He also leaves many special friends in Boston, Pittsburgh and Florida. Private funeral services were held in Maitland, FL. An online guest book is at www.degusipefuneralhome.com.

William Buchanan

November 15, 2015