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Hugh Aynesworth

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Aynesworth in 2013

Hugh Grant Aynesworth (/ˈeɪnzwɜːrθ/; August 2, 1931 – December 23, 2023) was an American journalist, author, and teacher.[1] Aynesworth witnessed the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dealey Plaza, the capture and arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald and the shooting of Oswald by Jack Ruby in the basement of the Dallas Police Headquarters.[2]

Aynesworth was born in Clarksburg, West Virginia. He was raised in Nutter Fort, West Virginia. He studied at Salem University in Salem, West Virginia. He first worked in his home state as a freelancer for the Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram.[3]

In 1980, Aynesworth was hired to interview serial killer Ted Bundy, who at first said he was innocent, for the Business Week.[4] He conducted many interviews with Bundy and eventually authored two books about the killer. The New York Daily News called their portrait of Bundy, The Only Living Witness, one of the ten best true-crime books ever written.[4]

In 1993, Aynesworth covered the siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.

At ABC News, Aynesworth was an investigator for 20/20. In the mid-1990s, he was the Dallas/Southwest bureau chief of The Washington Times.[5]

Aynesworth was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize six times, and was a finalist four times.

Aynesworth died on December 23, 2023 in Dallas, Texas at the age of 92.[6]

In May 1967, researcher Shirley Martin wrote a letter to Jim Garrison about her 1964 meeting with Aynesworth, in which she accused him of making "disgusting anti-Kennedy stories." He then began to praise the city of Dallas, especially his newspaper the Morning News. He then personally smeared Warren Commission critics like Thomas Buchanan and Mark Lane; describing the former as a "fairy" and the latter as a communist. Aynesworth also said that he had an affair with Marina, even commenting that Marina and Ruth Paine were involved in a lesbian relationship prior to the assassination. Martin also said that Aynesworth was bitter about Merriman Smith winning the Pulitzer for his JFK coverage.[7] Aynesworth was reportedly offered to snitch on William Walter for the FBI.[8]

Works[change | change source]

  • Stephen G. Michaud & Hugh Aynesworth (1983). The Only Living Witness. New York: Linden Press/Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9780671449612.
  • Stephen G. Michaud & Hugh Aynesworth (1990). Wanted for Murder. New York: Penguin. ISBN 9780451169273.
  • Stephen G. Michaud & Hugh Aynesworth (1990). If You Love Me You Will Do My Will. New York: Penguin. ISBN 9780451170354.
  • Stephen G. Michaud & Hugh Aynesworth (1991). Murderers Among Us: Unsolved Homicides, Mysterious Deaths and Killers at Large. New York: Penguin. ISBN 9780451170576.
  • Stephen G. Michaud & Hugh Aynesworth (2000). The Vengeful Heart. Irving, Texas: Authorlink Press. ISBN 9781928704225.
  • Stephen G. Michaud & Hugh Aynesworth (2000). Ted Bundy: Conversations with a Killer. Irving, Texas: Authorlink Press. ISBN 9781928704171.
  • Hugh Aynesworth & Stephen G. Michaud (2003). JFK: Breaking the News. Richardson, Texas: International Focus Press. ISBN 9780963910363.

References[change | change source]

  1. ↑ "Press Club of Dallas elects Hugh Aynesworth President and adopts new strategic plan". Pegasus News. Richardson, Texas. August 13, 2007. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2012.
  2. ↑ Broyles, William (March 1976). "The Man Who Saw Too Much". Texas Monthly. 4 (3). Austin, Texas: Mediatex Communications Corporation: 86–89, 114–122. ISSN 0148-7736. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  3. ↑ Boulden, Ben (January 17, 2010). "Expansion And A New Area". Southwest Times Record. Fort Smith, Arkansas. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2012.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Michaud, Stephen G. "Stephen G. Michaud's Biography". www.stephenmichaud.com. Retrieved January 23, 2013.
  5. ↑ Aynesworth, Hugh (February 1992). "Roar of the Crowd: The Ghosts of Dealey Plaza". Texas Monthly. 20 (2). Austin, Texas: Michael R. Levy: 18. ISSN 0148-7736. Retrieved February 27, 2013.[permanent dead link]
  6. ↑ "Hugh Aynesworth, leading reporter on JFK assassination, dies at 92". Dallas News. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  7. ↑ Martinez, Sylvia (May 20, 1967). "Shirley Martin's letter to Jim Garrison" (PDF). Dallas Morning News. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  8. ↑ http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/Weisberg%20Subject%20Index%20Files%20Original/W%20Disk/Walter%20William%20Steven/Item%2003.pdf

Other websites[change | change source]

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