Russell Baker is the winner of the 1979 George Polk Award for Commentary, the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Commentary, and the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Biography for his book Growing Up (1982). He served as a long-time columnist for The New York Times, writing the syndicated column "Observer" and hosted the PBS show Masterpiece Theatre. He also wrote a sequel to Growing Up called The Good Times (1989).
He began his career in 1947 at The Baltimore Sun, going on to join the Washington Bureau of The New York Times in 1954, covering national politics, in particular Congress and the White House. "Observer" began in 1962 and covered everything from national controversies to personal experiences. Baker retired from column writing in 1998, after more than three decades of well-loved and well-read writing. He lives in Leesburg, Virginia with his wife, Mimi, and is a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books.
Russell Baker won the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for this biography/autobiography about growing up in the backwoods of Virginia, in a New Jersey Commuter town, and in the Depression-shadowed urban landscape of Baltimore, all happening between the world wars. Baker introduces us to the people that impacted his early life, and he also discusses powerful love, awkward sex, and courage in the face of adversity. The Great Depression provided the backdrop against success, and to help his mother and family through it, he delivered papers and hustled subscriptions of The Saturday Evening Post, which introduced him to bullies, mentors, and heroes who faced national disaster with hard work and good cheer.
