
At Jon Daniel Franklin’s funeral service at Arlington National Cemetery on April 8, 2025, U.S. Navy Chaplain (Lt.) Everett Fraley said that when Franklin was growing up in Oklahoma, adults would ask him what he wanted to be when he grew up. According to Fraley, he would tell them, “I want to change the world, to make it a better place.” Franklin became a well-known pioneer of literary journalism, which utilized literary and creative techniques in nonfiction. He also taught journalism, worked as a writing coach and earned two Pulitzer Prizes for his reporting for the Baltimore Evening Sun.