John Fisher Burns facts for kids

John Fisher Burns is a British journalist born on October 4, 1944. He is famous for winning two Pulitzer Prizes, which are very important awards for journalists. He worked for The New York Times newspaper for many years. He was the head of their London office until March 2015. John Burns also appeared often on PBS, a TV channel. Many people call him "the dean of American foreign correspondents" because he is so experienced in reporting from around the world.

Early Life and Education

John Burns studied Islamic history and culture at King's College, Cambridge from 1998 to 1999. He is good at languages and can speak French and German. His father was from South Africa and worked in the Royal Air Force.

In the early 1970s, John Burns started his career writing for The Globe and Mail, a Canadian newspaper. He reported on local news and later on what was happening in the Canadian Parliament. During this time, he also earned a master's degree in political science from McGill University.

Reporting from Around the World

In 1971, John Burns was sent to China. He was one of only a few Western journalists allowed in China during the Cultural Revolution. This was a time of big changes in China.

John Burns joined The New York Times in 1975. He first reported on news in New York City. Since then, he has worked in many different roles for the newspaper.

Leading News Bureaus

He has led several of The New York Times' foreign offices around the world. In 1978, he and two other Times journalists, John Darnton and Michael T. Kaufman, won the George Polk Award. They received this award for their excellent reporting from Africa.

From 1981 to 1984, John Burns was the head of the Times office in Moscow, Russia. In 1986, while he was leading the Times office in Beijing, China, he was held by the Chinese government. They thought he might be a spy. After an investigation, the charges were dropped. However, John Burns was then asked to leave the country.

Winning Pulitzer Prizes

John Burns won his first Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1993. He received it for his brave and detailed reporting on the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He covered the terrible destruction of Sarajevo and the sad killings that happened there.

In the early to mid-1990s, John Burns led The New York Times' office in New Delhi, India. From there, he covered news across the Indian Subcontinent, including countries like Afghanistan and Burma. He often traveled to places like Kabul and Islamabad.

His reporting from Afghanistan led to his second Pulitzer Prize in 1997. This time, he won for his brave and insightful coverage of the strict rules put in place by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

John Burns was also in Baghdad, Iraq, before the Iraq war in 2003. He wrote many articles about the war and what happened after.

Later Career and Retirement

In July 2007, John Burns became the head of The New York Times' office in London. In September 2007, he received the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award and an honorary degree from Colby College.

John Burns often appeared on PBS television shows. He was on the Charlie Rose show and The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. He would often join these shows by satellite from Afghanistan and Iraq.

In 2009, a writer named Michael Barone called John Burns "one of the great foreign correspondents of our time." In 2010, another writer, Christopher Hitchens, called him "the greatest war correspondent of our time."

John Burns finished his career at The New York Times on March 26, 2015. His last article was about the burial of Richard III.

Family Life

John Burns married Jane Peque Gnat in 1972. They later divorced in 1989. In 1991, he married Jane Scott-Long. She manages The New York Times' office in Baghdad. John Burns has two children from his first marriage, Jamie and Emily. He also has a stepchild named Toby from his second marriage.