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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL,
May 4, 2009
WASHINGTON—John R. Wilke, a 20-yearveteran of The Wall Street Journal knownfor incisive reporting on the intersection of business and politics, died of cancer Fridayafternoon at his Bethesda, Md., home.Mr. Wilke, 54 years old, was a member of the Journal’s Washington bureau.In recent years, he specialized in articlesabout deals cut by members of Congressto win special appropriations, known asearmarks, for friends, supporters and busi-ness associates back home.One of his investigations helped lead tolast year’s indictment of then-Rep. RickRenzi (R., Ariz.), who is accused of receiving favors from developers and copper-mining executives in return for congressionalhelp. Another revealed the broad range of earmarks a powerful Democrat, Rep. JohnMurtha, used to bring federal contracts to hisPennsylvania district.After receiving a master’s degree fromthe Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Mr. Wilke worked for Business-Week as a Washington correspondent in 1984and became a staff writer for the BostonGlobe in 1986.He joined the Journal’s Boston bureau in1989, where he covered technology.His reporting there disclosed an internalrevolt against Kenneth H. Olsen, president of computer pioneer Digital Equipment Corp.,who soon resigned.After moving to Washington for the news-paper in 1995, he covered the long JusticeDepartment antitrust case against MicrosoftCorp.He also uncovered that Microsoft ChairmanBill Gates wasn’t able to wrangle an invita-tion to join the exclusive Augusta NationalGolf Club, despite his considerable wealthand fame. (Mr. Gates eventually did get in tothe club.)Mr. Wilke reveled in the camaraderieof the newsroom. Late on Fridays, he wasknown to send emails to colleagues asking,“Shall we gather a posse?” before leading them to a local restaurant or watering hole.Between drinks, he would duck out to makecalls on his cellphone before announcing theneed to head out to “assure domestic tran-quility.”He loved spicy food, such as that foundat Washington landmark Ben’s Chili Bowl;baseball, specifically the Boston Red Sox;and newspapers in general. He was oftenseen leaving the newsroom at the end of aday with four papers tucked under his arm,along with an accordion folder filled withdocuments.Even with sources and the subjects of hisarticles, Mr. Wilke usually was an easygoing presence.He mentored many younger reporters. Athis desk, he often juggled two calls at once,and he furtively guarded his stories—untilhe believed them ready for publication—fromthe prying eyes of editors.He wrote and rewrote the leads of his arti-cles, sometimes dozens of times, until hewas happy with the tone and content, andhe nursed story ideas for weeks or months,cultivating a slight air of mystery, while gath-ering threads.For his Microsoft coverage, Mr. Wilke andhis San Francisco-based colleague DavidBank won a Computer Press Associationaward. Mr. Wilke’s coverage of earmarkswon him the 2007 Everett McKinley Dirksenprize for distinguished coverage of Congress.A native of New York, Mr. Wilke received abachelor’s degree in psychology and biologyfrom the New College in Sarasota, Fla.,before going on to Columbia.He is survived by his wife, Nancy, a sonand a daughter.
Journal’s Wilke Dies of Cancer at 54
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