George H. Gurley Jr. ’63

George, an accomplished and prolific writer — novelist, poet, playwright, and newspaper columnist — died July 25, 2024, in an accident on his farm in Vinland, Kan. He and his wife of 46 years, Susan, moved there in 2000 to spend the last years of their shared lives farming and restoring the native tallgrass prairie.

“Until his last moments, George was writing — working on essays and another novel, composing poetry, and scribbling fragments onto envelopes. And the land on which he lived was a constant muse,” his daughter Gillian wrote.

George, whose father was in the Class of 1932, grew up in Kansas City, where he attended Pembroke-Country Day, captained the track team, and was senior class president. At Princeton, he majored in English, graduating with high honors, and took his meals at Colonial Club.

He taught for a year at International College in Beirut, Lebanon, then returned to Kansas City and worked in real estate as president of Preferred Properties. In 1983, George went to work for the Kansas City Star. He wrote three “general interest” columns a week for 10 years and was book review editor for seven. After retiring from the Star, he wrote a column for the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal World for 15 years. Two of his plays were produced by Park College, directed by Pulitzer Prize winner Charles Gordone. His poems have been published in literary magazines such as Poetry and New Letters and his book reviews in The Wall Street Journal.

In addition to Susan and Gillian, George’s survivors include another daughter, Arianrhod; and sons George III and Cern.