Railroad industry journalist, analyst, author and long-time Railway Age Contributing Editor Lawrence H Kaufman, 80, died on Nov. 8 in Golden, Colo., after a long illness.
In a career that spanned more than a half-century, Larry Kaufman plied his trade at the Journal of Commerce, Business Week, the Association of American Railroads, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and several Class I railroads. At the DOT during the early 1970s, he served in the Nixon Administration as Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Policy and International affairs. In addition to his work as a Railway Age contributor, he was a columnist for Argus Rail Business and Trains Magazine.
A 1958 Cornell University graduate, Kaufman started his career at the Cleveland Press, then joined Business Week in 1959 as a transportation correspondent. He spent 13 years with Business Week, the last two as Transportation Editor. He is credited with breaking the news of Penn Central Transportation Company’s looming bankruptcy in 1970.
Kaufman joined the DOT in 1971. Two years later, he joined the AAR’s public affairs office, where in 1979 he led a campaign supporting passage of the 1980 Staggers Act, which partially deregulated the industry. In 1981, he joined Burlington Northern as Vice President for Public Affairs. He returned to journalism in 1986 as Intermodal Editor at the Journal of Commerce, where he spent the next nine years. In 1995, he returned to railroad public affairs as Managing Director for Corporate Communications at Southern Pacific. He stayed with SP until its merger with Union Pacific, and then returned to the JOC as a columnist until 2000. He is credited with breaking the news of the proposed merger of CN with BNSF, a combination the STB ultimately rejected.
Kaufman was also a consultant to Class I railroads, advising Norfolk Southern on its shared acquisition of Conrail with CSX, and CN during its acquisition of Illinois Central.
Kaufman drew upon his experiences during turbulent times in the industry for book commissioned by BNSF Executive Chairman Matt Rose: “Leaders Count: The History of the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway,” published in 2005.
In the final years of his distinguished career, Kaufman was a columnist for Argus Rail Business, as well as a guest lecturer at the Transportation Institute at the University of Denver and the Northwestern University Transportation Center.
For four decades, Railway Age contributing editor Frank N. Wilner interacted in a variety of capacities with Larry Kaufman. They often critiqued each other’s drafts for factual accuracy. Wilner recalls some of his long-time associate and friend’s best qualities:
“At his core, Larry was a newspaperman—possessing, nurturing and exercising a healthy cynicism of self-serving press releases peddled shamelessly by expensively dressed PR and lobbying types deep in expense account cash yet shallow in knowledge beyond well rehearsed speaking points. He saved his greatest skepticism for the hired front groups masquerading as independent think tanks. While much of Larry’s exemplary career was devoted to honest journalism —including the now-defunct Cleveland Press, Business Week, the Journal of Commerce when it was a well-respected daily, and Railway Age as a contributing editor—Larry also served railroads. Here, he differentiated himself by studying and mastering issues, anticipating difficult questions, and going off the record adeptly to explain what really lurked beneath the onion layers. His depth perception on complex issues was extraordinary. The result most often served his masters significantly better than the fact-hollow glib ooze too often discharged by PR and lobbying shops. As sunlight is the best disinfectant, Larry was among the best at opening the blinds.”
Highly respected and well-liked among his peers, Kaufman is fondly remembered:
“Larry was first and foremost an excellent reporter and journalist. He followed the story wherever the facts led him. He was a gifted writer and those of us who knew him are richer for the experience. He will be missed.” — Ed Hamberger, AAR President and CEO
“In my opinion, Larry was the most knowledgeable and honorable journalist covering the rail industry. He understood how policy was put together and how things worked. He was a newsman’s newsman.” — Stanford Erickson, former Editor, Journal of Commerce
“Larry knew more stories than Aesop and more people than a talk show host, and he was unfailingly engaging and upbeat.” — Frank S. Brown, Assistant Vice President, Corporate Communications, Norfolk Southern
“No one had better rail sources or deeper historical perspective about the industry. Those of us who had the privilege of working with Larry knew him as a kind and thoughtful friend and colleague who was unfailingly supportive to younger reporters.” — Joseph Bonney, Senior Editor, Journal of Commerce
“Larry taught me how to be a reporter. I wrote news briefs. Some days we wouldn’t have much, so I got on the phone and started calling people, asking them what was going on. Larry sat there marveling. ‘How do you do it?’ he said. I said, ‘Because you taught me how to ask questions.’” — Greg Johnson, who worked with Kaufman on the Journal of Commerce transportation desk
Lawrence H Kaufman—note, his middle name was simply H, no period—is survived by his wife, Donna, two children and a grandson.