The last of a pioneer family, the Amsdells, Murray graduated from HHS in 1947. He won six letters in three sports, was a member of the National Honor Society, the band and chorus and editor of Echos. He graduated in journalism and political science from the University of Iowa and joined the staff of the Buffalo Evening News in 1951.
He worked as city hall and state house reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer before joining the staff of the New York Times. He was awarded a Nieman Fellowship in Journalism at Harvard University and became economics correspondent in Washington for Newsweek Magazine. He held the same post with the Los Angeles Times Washington Bureau before that paper sent him to be bureau chief in Moscow; Bonn, covering East and Central Europe; and Brussels, where he won the Loeb Award for economic journalism, the equivalent of a Pulitzer. He later was editorial consultant and writer for The Straits Times in Singapore.
Leaving journalism, he was information director for the AFL-CIO and then assistant director, External Relations Department, at the International Monetary Fund. He taught journalism at the University of Maryland, American University and George Washington University. He was named a distinguished alumnus of the University of Iowa. He was director of the Committee on the Future of Journalism and is a member of the Committee of Concerrned Journalists.and the Authors Guild. He wrote one book, "Discovering Russia," and recently completed a memoir, "Reporter". He and his wife live in Silvier Spring, Maryland