Hugh Aynesworth

American journalist

Hugh Grant Aynesworth (/ˈnzwɜːrθ/; 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 in 2013

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]

Works change

  • 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

  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. 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.
  6. "Hugh Aynesworth, leading reporter on JFK assassination, dies at 92". Dallas News. Retrieved December 24, 2023.

Other websites change