Neal Rippey Peirce (January 5, 1932 – December 27, 2019) was an American journalist and columnist, and the author of several books about American politics.
He was the political editor of the ''
Congressional Quarterly
''Congressional Quarterly'', or ''CQ'', is an American publication that is part of the privately owned publishing company CQ Roll Call, which covers the United States Congress. ''CQ'' was formerly acquired by the U.K.-based Economist Group and ...
'' from 1960 to 1969, and a co-founder and contributing editor of the ''
National Journal
''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes ...
'' from 1969 to 1997.
Mr. Peirce wrote a weekly column for ''
The Washington Post Writers Group
''The Washington Post'' Writers Group (WPWG), a division of The Washington Post News Service & Syndicate, is a press syndication service distributing opinion columnists, breaking news, podcasts and video journalism, lifestyle content, and graphi ...
'' from 1978 to 2013.
It was the first nationally syndicated column dedicated to covering cities and metro areas.
From 1986 to 2011, he worked with colleague Curtis Johnson to produce comprehensive "Peirce Reports" on conditions and potential improvements in 26 metro areas. Much of this work was reinforced by efforts of the ''Citistates Group'', a network of American journalists he established in 1995 to similarly focus on reporting on towns and cities.
In 2014, Mr. Peirce launched Citiscope, a news service reporting on cities around the globe that eventually became part of the Thomson Reuters project, Place.
Neal Peirce died in
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 ...
, from
glioblastoma
Glioblastoma, previously known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is the most aggressive and most common type of cancer that originates in the brain, and has a very poor prognosis for survival. Initial signs and symptoms of glioblastoma are nons ...
on December 27, 2019.
Nine months later, the Neal Peirce Foundation was established to honor Mr. Peirce's legacy. In recognition of the many years he spent on the road covering America's urban beat, the foundation's primary focus will be to award travel grants for journalists to get to cities and metro areas as he did–and report on solutions percolating there.
Mr. Peirce's large body of work is archived at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University.
Selected works
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References
External links
The Neal Peirce Foundation
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1932 births
2019 deaths
Journalists from Philadelphia
Journalists from Washington, D.C.
Princeton University alumni
Harvard University alumni
American columnists
American non-fiction writers
Deaths from brain cancer in Washington, D.C.
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