Delugach was born inMemphis, Tennessee. In 1943, he left high school early, and enlisted in the Navy. After the war (World War II), he received his high school equivalency and then attended theUniversity of Missouri, majoring in journalism.[5]
Delugach began his career atThe Kansas City Star in 1951, eventually leaving to work for theSt. Louis Globe-Democrat, where he and fellow reporterDenny Walsh, won the 1969Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for exposing corruption within aSt. Louis labor union.[2]
After spending three years investigating the Local 562 Steamfitters union, their reports led to multiple federal indictments involving kickbacks in sales of insurance and the union's pension fund. However, a new publisher,G. Duncan Bauman, refused to publish one of the key stories, about the federal government refusing to prosecute the kickbacks.[5] Delugach's partner, Walsh, unhappy with the move, quit after leaking the story to a reporter atThe Wall Street Journal, causing the Justice Department to reverse its position, and prosecute the offenders.[5][6][7][8][9]
Delugach left theGlobe-Democrat and wrote for theSt. Louis Post-Dispatch reporting on the oil boom, with William K. Want Jr., from Alaska.[5] The 6-story series covered the oil companies, the decision to build theTrans-Alaska Pipeline System, an 800-mile pipeline, and the financial interests of Secretary of Interior (former governor of Alaska),Wally Hickel. Their stories were entered into the Congressional record in December, 1969.[10][11] Delugach left thePost-Dispatch after just 18 months and went to work for theLos Angeles Times.
In 1984, he shared the Gerald Loeb Award for Spot News, with Ronald Soble, for their coverage of the death of gold trader Alan D. Saxon.[4] Delugach retired from theLos Angeles Times, in 1989.[1]
Previously the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, No Edition Time from 1953–1963 and the Pulitzer Prize for Local Investigative Specialized Reporting from 1964–1984
