Gilbert Martin Gaul (born May 18, 1951) is an American journalist. He has won two

Pulitzer Prizes The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had ma ...

and been a finalist for four others.

Biography

Gilbert Martin Gaul was born in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark. Growing up in nearby Kearny, Gaul attended St. Benedict's Prep in Newark, where he was a state champion in the

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with the ...

throw. He graduated from

Fairleigh Dickinson University Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...

in 1973. After working as a teacher for three years, Gaul became a news reporter at the ''Times-News'' in

Lehighton, Pennsylvania Lehighton () is a borough in Carbon County, Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Lehighton is located northwest of Allentown and northwest of Philadelphia. Due in part to water power from the Lehigh River, Lehighton was an ...

, in 1976. In January 1978, Gaul joined '' The Pottsville Republican'' in

Pottsville, Pennsylvania Pottsville is the county seat of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,346 at the 2020 census, and is the principal city of the Pottsville, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city lies along the west bank of t ...

. There, he teamed with Elliot Jaspin on a five-part series on the collapse of the huge Blue Coal Corporation, once one of the largest producers of soft coal. For their efforts, they shared the 1979

Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting The Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting has been awarded since 1953, under one name or another, for a distinguished example of investigative reporting by an individual or team, presented as a single article or series in a U.S. news publica ...

, citing "stories on the destruction of the Blue Coal Company by men with ties to organized crime", among other national reporting awards. In 1980, Gaul worked for the ''

Philadelphia Bulletin The ''Philadelphia Bulletin'' was a daily evening newspaper published from 1847 to 1982 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the largest circulation newspaper in Philadelphia for 76 years and was once the largest evening newspaper in the United ...

'' covering

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

, which recently had added casino gaming. He returned to Pottsville a year later and worked on a series detailing millions in waste in the county government, which won a National Headliners Award for investigative reporting. In 1982-1983, Gaul was a Nieman Fellow. The Nieman Fellowship is an award given to mid-career journalists by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. This award allows winners time to reflect on their careers and focus on honing their skills, at Harvard University, where he studied business, law and public health. He briefly returned to Pottsville and then moved to ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pen ...

'', covering medical economics on the business staff. In 1989, Gaul wrote a five-part series on the business of buying and selling human blood, as well as safety flaws in the nation's blood system. The ''Inquirer'' won the

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

Pulitzer Prize for Public Service The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It recognizes a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper or news site through the use of its journalis ...

citing "reporting by Gilbert M. Gaul that disclosed how the American blood industry operates with little government regulation or supervision." Meanwhile, Gaul was personally a finalist for the National Reporting Pulitzer. In all, Gaul worked at ''The Inquirer'' for 18 years. In 1994, he was again finalist for the National Reporting Pulitzer, for a series disclosing the explosive growth of non-profit organizations and their impact on the economy and tax laws. The series won numerous awards, including the Harvard Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting. In 2001, Gaul was finalist for the National Reporting Pulitzer for a five-part series on the business and commercialization of college sports. (On all three occasions there were three

Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting This Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs in the United States. In its first six years (1942–1947), it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic Reporting – National. Li ...

finalists, the winner and two runners-up.)"National Reporting"
The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2013-11-19. In 2000, Gaul briefly worked at ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and in 2001 joined the national investigative staff at ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'', where he remained through 2009. While there, Gaul authored a number of series, including a 2006 detailing $15 billion in waste in federal agricultural subsidies that was a Pulitzer finalist in National Reporting. Dan Morgan and Sara Cohen worked with Gaul on the series. In 2010, Gaul became a contributing writer to the non-profit

Kaiser Health News KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation), also known as The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, is an American non-profit organization, headquartered in San Francisco, California. It prefers KFF since its legal name can cause confusion as it is no longer a ...

, specializing in enterprise and long-form stories. He is also the author of four books, including Giant Steps, a chronicle of his son, Cary, who was born with spina bifida, and BILLION-DOLLAR BALL, named one of the best sports books of 2015. Gaul is married to Cathryn Candy, an art teacher. His older son, Gregory, a Princeton graduate, lives and works in Tennessee.

Quotes

Wikipedia Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read refer ...

: On college sports:

Works

*''Giant Steps: A Story of One Boy's Struggle to Walk'', St. Martin's Press, 1993, *''Free Ride: The Tax-Exempt Economy'' (with Neill A. Borowski), Andrews and McMeel, 1993, *''Crisis on the Coast: The Risky Development of America's Shores'' (with Anthony R. Wood), ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', 2000 * *''Billion-Dollar Ball: A Journey Through the Big-Money Culture of College Football'', Viking, 2015, *''The Geography of Risk: Epic Storms, Rising Seas, and the Cost of America's Coasts'', Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaul, Gilbert M. 1951 births American newspaper reporters and correspondents Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting winners The Washington Post people The Philadelphia Inquirer people Writers from Jersey City, New Jersey Living people Fairleigh Dickinson University alumni

Biography

Quotes

Works

See also

References

External links