Bill Burton, who fished with presidents, Colts and Orioles, told generations of Maryland anglers where the big ones were biting and was commissioned an "Admiral of the Chesapeake" by one governor, died early Monday morning of cancer. He was 82.
A Pasadena resident, Mr. Burton was for 37 years the outdoors editor of The Evening Sun before taking a buyout in 1992. He continued to write for the Bay Weekly and The Capital in Annapolis until his second retirement in late June.
"It's a sad day. We've lost a great guy. He was a legend," said Brooks Robinson, the Orioles Hall of Fame third baseman who fished and hunted with Mr. Burton.
A World War II veteran, Mr. Burton took up outdoors reporting and writing after doctors told him disabilities would restrict him to a desk job. A multimedia reporter decades before it came into vogue, he also did fishing reports on radio and for WMAR-TV in addition to his Evening Sun duties. He edited numerous regional hunting and fishing magazines and was a founding member of the Mason-Dixon Outdoors' Writers Association. In April, the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association inducted him into its Hall of Fame.
"If you have something to do tomorrow, you probably won't die today," Burton once said in explaining his long career. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski called Mr. Burton "a first-rate reporter ... adviser and friend. I leaned on him often for sage political and bay advice.
"Bill Burton has enriched the lives of so many," said Ms. Mikulski, who also fished with Mr. Burton every year. "He's been a one-man environmental movement, bringing joy and appreciation for the bay to every reader who's picked up his column. To those lucky enough to call him a friend, he's brought endless mirth, mischief and wisdom. His legacy as an old-school journalist, environmentalist and sage bay advocate will live ... forever in Maryland lore."
In the mid-1960s, then-Gov. J. Millard Tawes recognized Burton's contributions to promoting fishing and natural resources by naming him an "Admiral of the Chesapeake."
Last month, the Board of Public Works approved a proposal by Gov. Martin O'Malley and the Department of Natural Resources to rename the Choptank River Fishing Pier in Mr. Burton's honor. In 1986, Mr. Burton had used his column to lobby for saving the structure, which had carried U.S. 50 over the river, after a new span opened.
In a statement, Mr. O'Malley called Mr. Burton "an iconic figure in Maryland's outdoor history."
