Longtime Cherokee journalist John Shurr dies

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — John Shurr, a longtime journalist and open government advocate who was the Associated Press' bureau chief in South Carolina for 20 years, has died. He was 67.

Bill Rogers, executive director of the South Carolina Press Association, says Shurr died at his home Sunday morning after a brief illness.

Rogers says Shurr played the key role in bringing cameras inside South Carolina courts.

 Shurr was also the creator and author of "A Public Officials Guide to the S.C. Freedom of Information." Tens of thousands of copies of the book have been distributed statewide to public officials and journalists.

He was an enrolled Cherokee citizen from his native Oklahoma. He served on the editorial advisory board of the tribal newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix for many years.

 Shurr retired from the AP in 2007. Funeral plans were not complete Monday morning.