James W. Canan, a Golden Owl and member of Pulitzer-winning team, 88

James W. Canan, a Golden Owl National Press Club member who was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team at Gannett, died Dec. 23 after a long illness. He was 88.

A native of New Castle, Pennsylvania, Canan graduated from Westminster College and served as an intelligence officer in Europe during the Korean War. He worked for the Armed Forces Security Agency and the National Security Agency before attending journalism graduate school at Northwestern University.

He was a reporter for The Vindicator of Youngstown, Ohio, and the Binghamton Press before joining Gannett in Washington in 1960. He was part of the Gannett team that in 1964 received a special Pulitzer citation for "The Road To Integration," a distinguished example of using a newspaper group's resources to complement the work of its individual newspapers.

Canan laterjoined BusinessWeek where he developed coverage of defense research and development. He retired from Air Force Magazine in 1994 after covering defense issues there for more than a decade.

He wrote freelance articles throughout his career and into retirement and received numerous awards, including the Royal Aeronautical Society's Aerospace Journalist of the Year award in 2003. He authored two books: Superwarriors: The Fantastic World of Pentagon Superweapons, published in 1975, and War in Space, published in 1984.

Club member Daniel Moskowitz recalled James as "a top-tier journalist, a stalwart friend, and an all-around estimable human being. His no longer being here leave a big hole in my life."

Mark Thompson of Kensington, Maryland, knew James professionally for more than 20 years.

"His effervescence and curiosity were the marks of a good reporter, which I know he was," Thompson said.

He is survived by two sons, three daughters and four grandsons.