Silver Owl Barrett McGurn Dies

Barrett McGurn, 95, a Club member since 1975, died July 2 in Bethesda.

He was a foreign correspondent and press secretary, including serving as the Supreme Court's first spokesman (1973 to 1982).

After graduating from college, Mr. McGurn worked for the New York Herald Tribune and was an Army journalist during World War II for Yank magazine. After the war, he became the Herald Tribune's bureau chief in Rome and Paris and covered the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, the Washington Post reported.

He became the press attache at the U.S. Embassy in Rome and then a press officer at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon during the Vietnam War. In 1969, he moved to State Department headquarters in Washington.

After retiring in 1982, Mr. McGurn became spokesman for the Archdiocese of Washington. He wrote five books, including a memoir of his time at Yank magazine.

He is survived by his wife, Janice McLaughlin McGurn, and five sons.