Mary Ellen Greenfield (December 27, 1930 – May 13, 1999), known as Meg Greenfield, was an American editorial writer who worked for 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 na ...

'' and ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

''. She was also a

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

insider, known for her wit. Greenfield won a

Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing The Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Journalism. It has been awarded since 1917 for distinguished editorial writing, the test of excellence being clearness of style ...

. A book she authored was published posthumously.

Life and career

Greenfield was born in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, the daughter of Lorraine (Nathan) and Lewis James Greenfield. Her family was

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. She attended The Bush School and graduated summa cum laude from Smith College in 1952. She also studied at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

as a Fulbright Scholar and was friends there with

Norman Podhoretz Norman Podhoretz (; born January 16, 1930) is an American magazine editor, writer, and conservative political commentator, who identifies his views as " paleo-neoconservative".

, who also went on to a career in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...

. She became influential in a male-dominated world and a close confidante of ''Post'' publisher

Katharine Graham Katharine Meyer Graham (June 16, 1917 – July 17, 2001) was an American newspaper publisher. She led her family's newspaper, ''The Washington Post'', from 1963 to 1991. Graham presided over the paper as it reported on the Watergate scandal, whi ...

. She spent 20 years as the editorial page editor for ''The Washington Post'' and 25 years as a columnist for Newsweek. She influenced generations of Washington Post writers. When diagnosed with cancer, Greenfield partly retired to

Bainbridge Island Bainbridge Island is a city and island in Kitsap County, Washington. It is located in Puget Sound. The population was 23,025 at the 2010 census and an estimated 25,298 in 2019, making Bainbridge Island the second largest city in Kitsap County. ...

in her native

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, where she wrote a posthumously published memoir entitled ''Washington''. She died of the disease, at age 68. Greenfield was portrayed by

Carrie Coon Carrie Alexandra Coon (born January 24, 1981) is an American actress. In television, she is known for her starring roles as grieving mother Nora Durst in the HBO drama series '' The Leftovers'' (2014–2017) and as Gloria Burgle in the third s ...

in 2017 film, '' The Post''.

Awards and honors

*Greenfield won the 1978

Bibliography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenfield, Meg American women journalists 20th-century American memoirists Jewish American journalists The Washington Post people Smith College alumni Writers from Seattle Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing winners 1930 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen 20th-century American journalists American women memoirists 20th-century American Jews