ART McGINN, died April 30, 2023, in Spokane at age 85. Former reporter/feature writer with UPI/United Press International
Arthur James McGinn
Arthur James McGinn, a longtime reporter and feature writer with United Press International news service and The Sacramento Bee newspaper, passed away on April 30th, 2023, at Sacred Heart Hospital, Spokane, WA, with his wife at his side.
Art was 85 years old, the oldest of five brothers born to the late Richard and Catherine Murphy McGinn of Spokane.
He leaves his wife of 61 years, Kerry Anne Mullen McGinn, of Spokane, daughter Kathleen of Austin, TX, sons John of Sherman, TX, and Steven of Newton, MA, and six grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his son Michael of San Francisco.
A graduate of Gonzaga Preparatory School and Gonzaga University, McGinn joined United Press in 1958 in Spokane while in college and later worked in UPI bureaus in Olympia, San Francisco, Idaho Falls, Boise, and Sacramento before joining the Sacramento Bee where he was a reporter, feature writer, and columnist.
He returned in 1973 to UPI in San Francisco, the West Coast Headquarters of the news agency, and remained until 1991. He was involved in coverage of the Patty Hearst kidnapping, the attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford by Sarah Jane Moore, and the major earthquake that struck the Bay Area in October 1989.
During his news media career, he covered state legislatures, courts, crimes, and floods in California, Washington, and Idaho. Over the years he interviewed former President Harry S. Truman, Cesar Chavez, Dizzy Gillespie, Clint Eastwood, Johnny Cash, Kathryn Crosby, and Nancy Reagan. He was once assigned to inspect California Gov. Ronald Reagan's hair at a barber shop to determine whether it was dyed. The consensus was no.
McGinn was an officer of the Wire Service Guild, AFL-CIO, and served terms as the union's National Vice President for UPI and as the National Strike Preparation Coordinator during contract negotiations with UPI. He later worked for The San Francisco Newspaper Agency and The San Francisco Chronicle.
In 2020, he published his novel, Telegraph Hill, set in his beloved San Francisco around 1980. (Publication date: Feb. 24, 2020)
McGinn was immensely proud of his family: wife Kerry, an Adult Nurse Practitioner and author of several health books; son Michael (Melissa), founder of a legal services company in San Francisco; daughter Kathleen, attorney, and world traveler; a son John (Susan), composer, classical keyboardist, and college professor; and son Steven (Julie), cartoonist and jazz musician.
McGinn is also survived by daughter-in-law Melissa McGinn of San Rafael, CA, and grandsons Jack, Matthew, and Sean; daughter-in-law Susan of Sherman, TX, and granddaughters Joanna and Sarah; and daughter-in-law Julie of Newton, MA, and granddaughter Caroline. He is also survived by brother John of Seattle, Jerry of Spokane, and sister-in-law Jean of Coeur d'Alene, ID, and many cousins, nieces, and nephews. He was preceded in death by brothers Richard of Athens OH, and Joseph of Coeur d'Alene ID.
Art combined a loving heart with integrity, generosity, and a great sense of humor, a combination which made him universally loved in return.
A funeral service will be held Friday, June 30th at 10:30 am at St. Ann Catholic Church, 2120 E 1st Ave, Spokane, 99202. This will be followed by lunch at Jack & Dan's Tavern, at 1226 N. Hamilton St., Spokane (Art's specific instruction), and then burial at 2:30 pm in the family plot at Fairmount Memorial Park, 5200 W. Wellesley, Spokane, off Assembly.
Published by Spokane Spokesman-Review on June 18, 2023
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Art McGinn bylined stories:
-Patty Hearst, UPI story in Long Beach, Calif., Press-Telegram,
March 3, 1975
-California 1965 legislature, UPI story in Conjeo News, Thousand Oaks, Calif. March 29, 1965
-Anti-apartheid, UPI story in Hilo, Hawaii, Hawaii Tribune-Herald,
May 3, 1985
-'Looking Around' column by Art McGinn, Sacramento, Calif., Bee, June 20, 1969
-'Looking Around' column by Art McGinn, Sacramento, Calif., Bee, Sept. 12, 1969 (ill)
SMUD story by Art McGinn, Sacramento, Calif. Bee,
Aug. 7, 1973
