It’s with a heavy heart that we share the news that Mike McGraw, special projects reporter for Kansas City PBS, passed away on Jan. 6, 2018 after a brief battle with cancer.
McGraw, 69, joined KCPT in 2014 to work on long-form, in-depth stories. He came to us after “retirement” from a 30-year career on The Kansas City Star's investigations team, where he and a colleague won a Pulitzer Prize for a series about the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
At KCPT, his hallmarks were first-person accounts and in-depth investigations, and we were proud to publish them. This last year alone McGraw’s work ranged from a personal recounting of the draft during the Vietnam War, being cited in the judgement of a man released from prison — a story McGraw doggedly followed for more than a decade — and was integral to the creation of a special collection at the Kansas City library on the local mafia. His last story published in December.
He was as kind as he was tenacious, and while he joked that he was analog in a digital age, everyone who worked with him knew: He was simply one for the ages.
“We were honored to be able to work with Mike and to be a small part of his story. It was a joy to witness the generosity in the way he worked with our team, and his willingness to keep growing and trying new things,” said KCPT president and CEO Kliff Kuehl.
Our hearts are with his wife, Ruth, his sons and grandchildren, and the widespread journalism community.