Donald William Kaul (December 25, 1934 – July 22, 2018)
was an
American journalist
A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism.
Roles
Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
, best known for his syndicated columns and his work with ''
The Des Moines Register
''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa, United States.
History Early period
The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cab ...
'' and ''OtherWords''.
Education and career
Kaul earned a Bachelor's degree from the
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
in 1958 and a Master's degree in journalism in 1960. He was a finalist for the
Pulitzer Prize for Commentary
The Pulitzer Prize for Commentary is an award administered by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism "for distinguished commentary, using any available journalistic tool". It is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes that are ...
in 1987 and 1999. Kaul wrote columns for ''
The Des Moines Register
''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa, United States.
History Early period
The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cab ...
'' for over 35 years before retiring in 2000. His work was recognized for its liberal perspective, particularly in
Iowa
Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
. In 2001, he resumed writing for ''OtherWords'', a non-profit editorial service focused on progressive commentary. His final column was published in 2017.
Kaul co-founded ''
The Des Moines Register's Annual Weeklong Bike Ride Across Iowa'',
RAGBRAI. It began in 1973 with a column by Kaul who launched the ride with John Karras, another ''Register'' writer.
Around 1963, Kaul began contributing to The Register's Over the Coffee column, taking it over full-time in the spring of 1965. In 1970, the newspaper assigned him to its
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, bureau. In 1983, following editorial changes under James Gannon, Kaul left The Register. He subsequently wrote for the Cedar Rapids Gazette, and his columns were syndicated nationally. In 1989, after Geneva Overholser became The Register's editor, she reinstated Kaul as a columnist.
Overholser stated, "Kaul belongs in The Register. There aren't many world-class columnists around, and we've got one who's really our own."
In 2012, Emily Schwartz Greco, his editor at Other Words, described Kaul as a columnist with a broad range, stating that he wrote about topics including football, economics, racism, and military spending.
Kaul wrote that
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
"is to shifty what Larry Bird is to basketball" in a 1986 column for ''The Register''. Kaul teased Iowa girls' basketball for its slow pace, suggesting it be timed with an "hourglass" and saying it drove crowds "delirious with apathy." Describing riders of RAGBRAI as "my kind of people," he explained: "They come for a little fun and to see whether it's true what they say about coronaries. They're not into finishing first; they're into finishing."
A
Washingtonian magazine poll of the nation's 200 largest newspapers voted Kaul "the most underrated syndicated columnist." In 1984, he was a keynote speaker at
Drake University Law School's Supreme Court Celebration Banquet. In the 1980s, he was a commentator on National Public Radio. One Iowa columnist called him "the George Will or Rush Limbaugh of the left."
Noting the political benefits of military contracts scattered by design among many congressional districts, Kaul wrote, "Congress has its faults—it is for the most part cowardly, venal, and self-aggrandizing—but give it this: it is absolutely ingenious in its efforts to protect the military budget from the scourge of peace."
Kaul suffered a heart attack on July 4, 2012, after eating a hot dog, deviating from his semi-vegan diet. He still met a deadline, filing a column three days later, but observed, "Life is full of little ironies, some of which will kill you."
The
Sandy Hook Elementary massacre spurred his call for ending gun violence. "Repeal the Second Amendment, the part about guns anyway", he wrote, urging that the NRA be declared a terrorist organization and that owning an unlicensed assault rifle be made a
felony
A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that r ...
.
"If some people refused to give up their guns, that 'prying the guns from their cold, dead hand's thing works for me," he went on. "Then I would tie Mitch McConnell and John Boehner our esteemed Republican leaders to the back of a Chevy pickup and drag them around a parking lot until they saw the light on gun control."
Protests followed, led by anti-gun control activists who flooded his email and phone with messages. Kaul explained he was writing satirically about the GOP leaders, but to little avail. "Perhaps my column jumped the shark a bit", he said. I was angry. But worse would have been to watch those little bodies being carried out of the Newtown school, shrug, and say 'Gee, that's terrible. We're going to have to do something about that someday if the NRA approves.' That would have been immoral."
Personal Life
Kaul was born on December 25, 1934 in Detroit, Michigan.
In the year January 11, 2018, Kaul revealed that the cancer in his prostate had spread and that he would no longer take treatments.
He died later that year.
References
External links
Donald KaulBio and list of columns
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaul, Donald
1934 births
2018 deaths
American columnists
Journalists from Iowa
University of Michigan alumni