Neil Gilbride

Claxton

Neil Gilbride, age 89 passed away Wednesday, October 4, 2017 at The Griffin House. Neil Gilbride was a distinguished journalist. He joined the U.S. Navy at the age of 15 and served as a Navy signalman on LSM 48 in the Pacific theatre. His ship served as troop transport and supply ship during 5 months of the invasion of Iwo Jima. With his G.I. Bill benefits he earned a degree in journalism from University of Miami and began his career in the Jacksonville, Florida, office of Associated Press. From there, Neil went to AP's Atlanta bureau and then to the nation's capital where he covered Congress, the White House and subsequently labor/economic news for AP. He consistently won recognition for breaking significant news stories over two decades at AP.  In the early 1970s, he served as president of the American Wire Service Guild (now the News Service Guild). During that time he contributed to NPR news and appeared on Meet the Press and was offered the position of White House press secretary. He served a brief stint at Canadian Press in Ottawa and as a contributor to Gannett News Service before returning to the US as an environmental news/special correspondent and journal editor at the Bureau of National Affairs, now Bloomberg BNA, for nearly thirty years.