History, Fairness Drive Attorney Who Challenged Opt Out

As a University of Oklahoma journalism student in the 1960s, Bob Burke covered the state Capitol and started thinking about public policy. He'd reported since high school, trekking to McCurtain County's only radio station every morning at 5:30 a.m. to help its 26,000 residents wake with the news. (That taught him to function on five hours of sleep, a lesson he still heeds, he says.) He saw himself with a reporting career, but his public policy questions felt deep-rooted and urgent. "I began to think about public policy and why leaders did certain things," Burke said. &...