Mary Ellen Greenfield (December 27, 1930 – May 13, 1999), known as Meg Greenfield, was an American editorial writer who worked for the ''
Washington Post'' and ''
Newsweek''. She was also a
Washington, D.C. insider, known for her wit. Greenfield won a
Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing.
A book she authored was published posthumously.
Life and career
Greenfield was born in
Seattle, the daughter of Lorraine (Nathan) and Lewis James Greenfield. Her family was
Jewish. She attended
The Bush School and graduated summa cum laude from
Smith College
Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...
in 1952. She also studied at
Cambridge University as a
Fulbright Scholar
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...
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.
She became influential in a male-dominated world and a close confidante of ''Post'' publisher
Katharine Graham. 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 in her native
Washington, where she wrote a posthumously published memoir entitled ''Washington''. She died of the disease, at age 68.
Greenfield was portrayed by
Carrie Coon in 2017 film, ''
The Post''.
Awards and honors
*Greenfield won the 1978
Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing.
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