20 August 2025

By Göran R Buckhorn

A new rowing biography has seen the light of day: Edward J. Woodhouse’s 362-page Joe Burk: An American Ideal. The book was supposed to come out in September, but the biography is already available on Amazon in the U.S. and the UK.

Joe Burk (1914 – 2008), who besides John “Jack” B. Kelly, was the most successful American sculler in the first half of the 20th century. While Kelly won three Olympic gold medals, in 1920 and 1924, Burk managed to collect two victories that eluded Kelly – the Diamond Challenge Sculls at Henley Royal Regatta, in 1938 and 1939. Burk was aiming for the Olympics in 1940, but as we know, World War II put a stop to both the Games in 1940 and 1944.

During the War, Burk served as a Commander of a PT boat in the Pacific, where he was awarded the Navy Cross.

After the War, Burk coached at Yale and later at Penn. His crews won several championships in the U.S. and the Grand at Henley in 1955.

A longer review of Joe Burk: An American Ideal will follow on HTBS.