Barry Tully, Former AIN Senior Editor, Flies West
Barry Tully was one of three of the original senior editors of Aviation International NewsBarry Tully: Former AIN Senior Editor
Barry Tully, AIN senior editor

Barry Tullyā€”an accomplished aerospace journalist and ad agency copywriterā€”passed away peacefully on June 21 at the age of 83. Tully was one of three original senior editors in the formation of Aviation International News, working directly with AIN founding editor Jim Holahan (1921-2015), from AINā€™s inception in 1972 through the late 1980s. Tully and Holahan previously worked together at both Aviation Week and Space Technology in the late 1950s and at Business and Commercial Aviation in the mid-1960s.


Before starting his aerospace journalism career Tully spent four years as a U.S. Navy pilot, from 1953 to 1957, and remained in the service for 16 years as a reservist, reaching the rank of commander. Tully was a voracious reader, history buff and sports enthusiast/hiker, and in his retirement combined his time in the library with back-packing, and with regaling friends and family with endless tales, the product of his in-depth knowledge of all subject matters, no matter how obscure.


As Bob Hoffman, the other of the three editors in the foundation of Aviation International News, observed on Tully: ā€œI once sent Barry a book to look at. He said, ā€˜Thanks, Iā€™ll get to it as soon as I finish Thucydides.ā€™ I donā€™t know what volume Barry was on at the time, but indeed we have lost a great one. I just hope St. Peter didnā€™t make the mistake of asking Barry any trivia questions.ā€