IU alumnus, Pulitzer winner dies of cancer

Gene Miller, 76, died Friday from cancer, according to the Miami Herald. He graduated from IU in 1950 and immediately went to work for The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette for $50 a week according to his obituary, which he wrote before he died. In it, he said he was overpaid.\nDuring his lifetime he also worked for The Wall Street Journal, The Evansville Press and finally for The Miami Herald. \nHe stayed at the Herald from 1957 to 2001 as a reporter and editor. During his career at the Herald, he won two Pulitzer Prizes. The first was in 1967 for a pair of investigatory stories that freed two convicted murders from jail. His second came as a result of eight years of reporting about two convicted black murderers. The police beat a confession out of them about killing two white gas station attendants. After 130 stories, the two men were freed. According to his obituary and the Miami Herald, he had a sense of humor. A section of his obituary read he was in "Excellent health ... except for a fatal disease"