Daniel M. Burnham

Daniel McFarlan Burnham of Dublin, NH whose varied careers included journalism, farming and political activism, died peacefully at home on July 18, 2020.

He was kind, principled, and deeply curious about both people and the world. He had a wonderful smile, loved his family and fought for the underdog. He had a great appreciation for beauty, a love of the land, and a deep determination to try to do what he thought was right.

Born August 1, 1929 in Brooklyn, NY, the son of Addison and Dorothy Burnham, he grew up in New Canaan, CT and graduated from Harvard College in 1952. He served in the US Army in 1948-49 and 1952-53 as a 2nd Lieutenant.

After his discharge from the Army in Germany, he wrote for the military newspaper, The Stars and Stripes. On his return to the United States, he was hired by the Wall Street Journal and reported on industry, the West and parts of Mexico. From the Dallas bureau, he also reported on civil rights struggles in the South – an experience that he later described as having a big impact on his life. “I’m very conscious of civil rights as being one of the basic rights for everybody,” he told a reporter for The Keene Sentinel in 2004.

In 1962, he joined IBM and was director of press relations there. He married Moira MacVeagh in Dublin, NH in 1963. In 1977, they moved there from New York to farm and raise Holstein heifers.

Over the years, Mr. Burnham worked with a number of local organizations, often as a board member or chair, including the New Hampshire Sierra Club, NH Natural Resource Forum, the Cheshire County Farm Bureau, the Cheshire County Democratic Party, Home Healthcare and Community Services, and Hospice of the Monadnock Region. He was an incorporator of the Trust For New Hampshire Lands, the New Hampshire Charitable Fund, and Historic Harrisville.

In addition to continuing to write and consult for a number of magazines and newspapers, Mr. Burnham was the owner and publisher of the New Hampshire Times from 1982-85.

In 1990 he took his activism to politics, winning the first of six terms in the New Hampshire State Legislature as a Democrat. He was particularly active in sponsoring bills having to do with environmental protection, disabilities and the deaf community and was proud that 40 of these bills became law.

In addition to his wife, and his brother David, he is survived by his children and their spouses, Dan Burnham Jr and Denise Gilpin, Moira Burnham and Nick Bienstock ,and Diana Burnham and Mitch Reznick as well as seven grandchildren whom he adored. His sister, Sue Edwards, died in 2010.

He believed that every individual could make a difference. In lieu of flowers, please vote.