Lisa Pollak (born c. 1970) is an American journalist and author. She won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing.

Education and career

She published her first professional newspaper article in 1985 as a high school student in

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Bloomfield Hills is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit on the Woodward Corridor, Bloomfield Hills is located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, and is ...

, an account of a Tu B'Shevat

tree planting Tree planting is the process of transplanting tree seedlings, generally for forestry, land reclamation, or landscaping purposes. It differs from the transplantation of larger trees in arboriculture and from the lower-cost but slower and les ...

ceremony for the ''

Detroit Jewish News ''The Detroit Jewish News'', is a weekly newspaper serving the Jewish community of Metro Detroit and Michigan. The non-profit Detroit Jewish News Foundation publishes the newspaper. The publication's headquarters are in Farmington Hills, Michigan ...

.'' She earned a B.A. in American Culture from the

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a 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 Michigan is one of th ...

while working for the student newspaper ''

The Michigan Daily ''The Michigan Daily'', also known as "''The Daily''", is the independent student newspaper of the University of Michigan published in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Established on September 29, 1890, the newspaper is financially and editorially independe ...

.'' After graduating in 1990, she earned a master's degree in journalism from the

Medill School of Journalism The Medill School of Journalism (branded as Northwestern Medill; formally the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications) is the journalism school of Northwestern University. It offers both undergraduate and graduat ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

in 1992. She worked as a reporter at ''The'' ''Charlotte Observer'' from 1992 to 1994 and for ''

The Raleigh News and Observer ''The News & Observer'' is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state (second is the ''Charlotte Observer''). The paper has bee ...

'' from to 1994 to 1996.'''' For the latter paper, she earned the Ernie Pyle Award for Human Interest Writing in 1995. Pollack was a reporter for the ''Baltimore Sun'' from 1996 to 2004. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her 1996 ''Baltimore Sun'' story "The Umpire's Son," about the family of baseball umpire

John Hirschbeck John Francis Hirschbeck (born September 7, 1954) is a former umpire for Major League Baseball. He worked in the American League from 1984 to 1999 and worked in both leagues from 2000 to 2016. He was a crew chief at the time of his retirement, an ...

, whose son died of

adrenoleukodystrophy Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) is a genetic disorder, disease linked to the X chromosome. It is a result of fatty acid buildup caused by failure of peroxisome#Metabolic functions, peroxisomal fatty acid beta oxidation which results in the accumulation ...

(ALD) in 1993 at age 8. The Pulitzer citation stated the award was "for her compelling portrait of a baseball umpire who endured the death of a son while knowing that another son suffers from the same deadly genetic disease." From 2004 to 2013, Pollak was a producer and reporter for ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' is a weekly hour-long American radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internationally, and is ...

.'' She is currently an independent journalist and adjunct professor at the

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sch ...

. Pollak is married to journalist Chuck Salter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollak, Lisa The Baltimore Sun people American journalists American women journalists Medill School of Journalism alumni University of Michigan alumni Columbia University faculty Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing winners 1970s births Living people