Bill Hosokawa, Former Denver Post Editor, Dies

Nov. 11, 2007

AAJA mourns the passing of William "Bill" Hosokawa, former editor of the Denver Post. He died Friday at the age of 92.

Bill was awarded AAJA's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.

From the 2003 AAJA Citation:

William Hosokawa

William Hosokawa, a man who was once interned during World War II as a security risk because of his Japanese American heritage, rose to direct the opinion section of Denver's leading daily newspaper at a time when AAJA wasn't even in existence.

Hosokawa was a pioneer from the beginning, pursuing a career in journalism even after his faculty advisor at the University of Washington urged him to quit "because no one would hire a Japanese boy." While at Heart Mountain internment camp in Wyoming, he served as editor of the camp newspaper which regularly criticized national politicians and the officials who ran the camps.

Hosokawa went on to become one of the first Asian American foreign correspondents and covered the Korean and Vietnam wars for the Denver Post. At the Post, he also worked as editorial page editor, columnist, assistant managing editor and executive news editor. He was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 for his coverage of student riots in Japan. He has also served as ombudsman columnist for the rival Rocky Mountain News.

Hosokawa has also written books committed to the advancement of civil rights. His book, "Nisei," was cited numerous times by the Congressional panel that investigated the incarceration of Japanese Americans. He has been honored by the Colorado American Civil Liberties Union, has taught journalism, and served as a Pulitzer Prize juror and president of the Colorado Freedom of Information Council. Hosokawa has also been inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Denver Press Club and the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors.