Club member Irwin Goodwin dies; covered Sputnik, moon missions

A prize-winning journalist and long-time National Press Club member who covered major political events and scientific breakthroughs, Irwin Goodwin, died in September at age 85.

"He was an eccentric pain but you couldn't help but love him," said Hanna Hunt, his companion of 32 years.

Goodwin began his career as a freelance writer and book reviewer for the City News in Chicago. While there, he also began writing for Newsweek and would spend the next 13 years between the New York and London offices writing for the space and science sections.

Goodwin covered Sputnik, moon explorations and nuclear testing. He also wrote about major political events, such as the death of Winston Churchill. While in London, Goodwin was sent on special assignment to Texas in 1963 to cover the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

After leaving Newsweek, Goodwin covered the Caribbean for three years for the Washington Post and Time Life News Service. Following a brief stint at the Smithsonian, Goodwin spent 10 years as an editor at the National Academy of Sciences.

He finished his career in 2000 after 17 years at Physics Today, where he reported extensively on NASA, the Supercollider, the Reagan administration's strategic defense initiative and missile defense tension between the United States and Russia, also known as Star Wars Lite.

Goodwin is survived by Hunt, his nieces and nephews and a Norwegian elk hound, who still misses him.