Russell Wayne Baker (August 14, 1925 – January 21, 2019) was an American journalist, narrator, writer of

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

-winning satirical commentary and self-critical prose, and author of Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography '' Growing Up'' (1983). He was a columnist for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' for 36 years, and hosted eleven seasons of the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

show ''

Masterpiece Theatre ''Masterpiece'' (formerly known as ''Masterpiece Theatre'') is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH Boston. It premiered on PBS on January 10, 1971. The series has presented numerous acclaimed British productions. Many of these ...

''. The ''Forbes Media Guide Five Hundred, 1994'' stated: "Baker, thanks to his singular gift of treating serious, even tragic events and trends with gentle humor, has become an American institution."

Early life and education

Born in

Loudoun County, Virginia Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. The county seat is Leesburg. Loudoun County ...

, Baker was the son of Benjamin Rex Baker and Lucy Elizabeth (née Robinson). His father died of complications of diabetes, and his destitute mother moved with some of her children to her brother's house in New Jersey. At the age of eleven, as a self-professed "bump on a log", Baker decided to become a writer because he figured, "what writers did couldn't even be classified as work". He graduated from

Baltimore City College Baltimore City College, known colloquially as City, City College, and B.C.C., is a college preparatory school with a classical liberal arts focus and selective admissions criteria located in Baltimore, Maryland. Opened in October 1839, B.C.C ...

in 1943, a "magnet" secondary school with selective admissions and a specialized curriculum focusing on the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

social studies In many countries' curricula, social studies is the combined study of humanities, the arts, and social sciences, mainly including history, economics, and civics. The term was coined by American educators around the turn of the twentieth century as ...

liberal arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

and

classical studies Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek and Roman literature and their original languages ...

. City College is the third oldest public high school in the US, founded in 1839. The school had a major influence on Baker. He wrote about his experiences at the nicknamed "Castle on the Hill" in his 1982 memoir '' Growing Up''. He earned a scholarship at nearby

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

, studying for a year before leaving to join the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

as a pilot during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He left the service in 1945 before seeing combat due to the wars ending, and returned to Hopkins for two more years, where he graduated in 1947 with a degree in English.

Career

Journalism

Shortly after graduating from Johns Hopkins in 1947, Baker took a job at '' The Evening Sun'', a paper oriented towards blue collar / working-class readers with the largest circulation in town. Baker started out on the night police beat. Baker described in his first memoirs learning his way around and working his way up experiencing the journalism trade among many legendary old-timers. He soon improved enough to be sent overseas to Britain as ''The Sun'' London

correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

in 1952.

Columnist

Baker began writing for the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' in 1954 as a Washington correspondent. For the next eight years he covered the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

, and the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

. Beginning in 1962, he wrote the nationally syndicated "Observer" column, which he would continue for 36 years. Initially oriented toward politics, it grew to encompass a broader range of subjects and was known for Baker's humor. During his long career as an essayist, journalist, and biographer, he was a regular contributor to national periodicals such as ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...

'', ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'', ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

'', and ''

McCalls ''McCall's'' was a monthly American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. The publication was establishe ...

''. He was elected a fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1993.

Writer

Baker wrote or edited seventeen books. Baker's first Pulitzer Prize was awarded to him for distinguished commentary for his Observer columns (1979) and the second one was for his autobiography, '' Growing Up'' (1982); he is one of only six people to have been awarded a Pulitzer Prize for both Arts & Letters (for his autobiography) and Journalism (for his column). He wrote a sequel to his autobiography in 1989, called ''The Good Times''. His other works include ''An American in Washington'' (1961), ''No Cause for Panic'' (1964), ''Poor Russell's Almanac'' (1972), ''Looking Back: Heroes, Rascals, and Other Icons of the American Imagination'' (2002), and various anthologies of his columns. He edited the anthologies ''The Norton Book of Light Verse'' (1986) and ''Russell Baker's Book of American Humor'' (1993). Baker wrote the libretto for the 1979 musical play ''Home Again, Home Again,'' starring

Ronny Cox Daniel Ronald Cox (born July 23, 1938) is an American actor and musician. He has appeared in numerous films and television series since his acting debut in ''Deliverance'' (1972). He is best known for his roles in ''RoboCop'' (1987) and '' Total ...

, with music by

Cy Coleman Cy Coleman (born Seymour Kaufman; June 14, 1929 – November 18, 2004) was an American composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist. Life and career Coleman was born Seymour Kaufman in New York City, to Ashkenazi, Eastern European Jewish parents, an ...

, lyrics by Barbara Fried, choreography by

Onna White Onna White (March 24, 1922 – April 8, 2005) was a Canadian choreographer and dancer, nominated for eight Tony Awards. Early life and career Born in Inverness, Nova Scotia, White began taking dance lessons at the age of twelve, and eventu ...

, and direction by

Gene Saks Gene Saks (born Jean Michael Saks; November 8, 1921 – March 28, 2015) was an American director and actor. An inductee of the American Theater Hall of Fame, his acting career began with a Broadway debut in 1949. As a director, he was nominated ...

. After an unsuccessful tryout at the

American Shakespeare Theatre The American Shakespeare Theatre was a theater company based in Stratford, Connecticut. It was formed in the early 1950s by Lawrence Langner, Lincoln Kirstein, John Percy Burrell, and philanthropist Joseph Verner Reed. The American Shakespeare ...

Stratford, Connecticut Stratford is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is situated on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Housatonic River. The town is part of the Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, Connecticut, Greater Bri ...

, the show closed in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and never made it to

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

. "That was a great experience," Baker said in a 1994 interview with the

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is advertised as the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven and ...

. "Truly dreadful, but fun. I was sorry

he show He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

folded because I was having such a good time. But once is enough."

Television host and narrator

Baker replaced

Alistair Cooke Alistair Cooke, Order of the British Empire, KBE (né Alfred Cooke; 20 November 1908 – 30 March 2004) was a British-American writer whose work as a journalist, television personality and radio broadcaster was done primarily in the Unite ...

as the regular host and commentator of the

long-running drama television series ''

'', beginning with Season 22 (1992–93) and continuing for over a decade through Season 33 (2003–04). "That's talking-head stuff," he said. "Television is harder than I thought it was. I can't bear to look at myself. I fancied that I was an exceedingly charming, witty and handsome young man, and here's this fidgeting old fellow whose hair is parted on the wrong side." In 1995, he narrated the

Ric Burns Ric Burns (Eric Burns, born 1955) is an American documentary filmmaker and writer. He has written, directed and produced historical documentaries since the 1990s, beginning with his collaboration on the celebrated PBS series '' The Civil War'' (1 ...

documentary ''The Way West'' about American western expansion for ''

The American Experience ''American Experience'' is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs Documentary film, documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and peop ...

'', a long-running documentary series then in its ninth season on

Personal life and death

In 1950, Baker married Miriam Nash, who died four years before him in 2015. The couple had four children, Allen, Kasia, Michael, and Phyllis. Baker died at his longtime home in

Leesburg, Virginia Leesburg is a town in and the county seat of Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. It is part of both the Northern Virginia region of the state and the Washington metropolitan area, including Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. European se ...

(

Loudoun County Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. The county seat is Leesburg, Virgi ...

), on January 21, 2019, after complications following a fall. He was age 93.

Legacy

Neil Postman Neil Postman (March 8, 1931 – October 5, 2003) was an American author, educator, media theorist and cultural critic, who eschewed digital technology, including personal computers and mobile devices, and was critical of the use of personal com ...

, in the preface to ''Conscientious Objections'', described Baker as "like some fourth century citizen of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

who is amused and intrigued by the Empire's collapse but who still cares enough to mock the stupidities that are hastening its end. He is, in my opinion, a precious national resource, and as long as he does not get his own television show, America will remain stronger than Russia." (1991, xii)

Awards and honors

*1978 – George Polk Award for Commentary *1979 – Pulitzer Prize Winner in Commentary *1983 – Pulitzer Prize Winner in Biography *1993 – Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...

*1998 – George Polk Award for Career Achievements * Baltimore City College Hall of Fame

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Russell 1925 births 2019 deaths American essayists American humorists American memoirists American television personalities Baltimore City College alumni Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences George Polk Award recipients Johns Hopkins University alumni Journalists from New Jersey Journalists from Virginia Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Military personnel from Virginia People from Belleville, New Jersey People from Leesburg, Virginia Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography winners Pulitzer Prize for Commentary winners The Baltimore Sun people The New York Times columnists United States Navy officers United States Navy pilots of World War II Writers from Virginia Writers from Essex County, New Jersey