Walter Elliot Shapiro (February 16, 1947 – July 21, 2024) was an American journalist, columnist, writer, and author. He was the Press Secretary for the U.S. Secretary of Labor and a speech writer for President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

. Shapiro was also a staff writer for ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

''.

Early life and education

Walter Elliot Shapiro was born in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, New York City, in 1947, raised in

Norwalk, Connecticut Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The city, part of the New York metropolitan area, New York Metropolitan Area, is the List of municipalities of Connecticut by population, sixth-most populous city in Connecticut ...

, and graduated from Brien McMahon High School in 1965. One of his great-grandfathers was a Jewish immigrant from

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

. Shapiro attended 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 ...

, where he was an editor of ''

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 ...

''; he earned his B.A. in history in 1970. Shapiro also started a master's at Michigan in

European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD 500), the Middle Ages (AD 500–1500), and the modern era (since AD 1500). The first early Eu ...

; as a graduate student in 1972, he ran unsuccessfully for the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

, finishing second in a six-way Democratic

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

Career

Shapiro began his journalism career as Washington reporter for ''

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 ...

'' (1969 to 1970). He later wrote for a number of publications, including ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' (serving as twice-weekly "Hype & Glory" columnist starting in 1995); ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' (senior writer from 1987 to 1993, covering Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign), ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'' (political writer, 1983 to 1987), ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'' (monthly "Our Man in the White House" column, 1993 to 1996), the ''

Washington Monthly ''Washington Monthly'' is a bimonthly, nonprofit magazine primarily covering United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C. The magazine also publishes an annual ranking of American colleges and universities, which ser ...

'' (editor, 1972 to 1976),

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive and liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, includ ...

, and ''

Politics Daily ''Politics Daily'' was an American political journalism web site launched by AOL News in April 2009. It described itself as a "political news magazine for the general reader." Melinda Henneberger, a former ''Newsweek'' and ''New York Times'' re ...

''.Experts: Walter Shapiro

Brennan Center for Justice The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is a liberal or progressive nonprofit law and public policy institute. The organization is named after Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. The Brennan Cente ...

(retrieved May 15, 2016. Shapiro also wrote for ''

The American Prospect ''The American Prospect'' is a daily online and bimonthly print American political and public policy magazine dedicated to American modern liberalism and Progressivism in the United States, progressivism. Based in Washington, D.C., ''The America ...

'' and had been a columnist for

Yahoo News Yahoo News (stylized as Yahoo! News) is a news website that originated as an internet-based news aggregator by Yahoo. The site was created by Yahoo software engineer Brad Clawsie in August 1996. Articles originally came from news services such ...

Walter Shapiro
Department of Political Science, Yale University. and ''

Roll Call ''Roll Call'' is a newspaper and website published in Washington, D.C., United States, when the United States Congress is in session, reporting news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, as well as political coverage of c ...

''. Shapiro won the

Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, lette ...

' 2010

Sigma Delta Chi Award The Sigma Delta Chi Awards are presented annually by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) (formerly Sigma Delta Chi) for excellence in journalism. The SPJ states the purpose of the award is to promote "the free flow of information vital ...

in the category of Online Column Writing (Independent) for his piece "The Societal Costs of Our Shrill, Hyperactive and Partisan Media Culture," published in ''Politics Daily''. Shapiro was press secretary to U.S. Secretary of Labor Ray Marshall from 1977 to 1978. He was a

speechwriter A speechwriter is a person who is hired to prepare and write speeches to be delivered by another person. Speechwriters are employed by many senior-level elected officials and executives in the government and private sectors. They can also be em ...

for President

in 1979. He covered nine

United States presidential elections The election of the president and vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not directl ...

. Shapiro completed a fellowship in Japan with the Japan Society and had been a member of the Council on Ideas of the Gihon Foundation since 1992. Shapiro was a fellow at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and he was also a lecturer in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. Shapiro wrote ''One-Car Caravan: On the Road with the 2004 Democrats Before America Tunes In'' (

PublicAffairs PublicAffairs (or PublicAffairs Books) is a book publishing company located in New York City and has been a part of the Hachette Book Group since 2016. PublicAffairs was launched in 1997 by Peter Osnos. The current Publisher is Clive Priddl ...

, 2003) and ''Hustling Hitler: How a Jewish Vaudevillian Fooled the Fuhrer'' ( Blue Rider Press, 2016). Shapiro performed stand-up comedy for many years, and in 1998 '' The Times of London'' described him as "one of Manhattan's leading political satirists". His columns have included satire as well.

Personal life and death

Shapiro was married to magazine writer Meryl Gordon and split his time between New York City and Washington, D.C. He died from complications of cancer at a hospital in Manhattan on July 21, 2024, aged 77.

Notes

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shapiro, Walter 1947 births 2024 deaths 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American male writers American male journalists American male non-fiction writers American people of German-Jewish descent American satirists American speechwriters Candidates in the 1972 United States elections Carter administration personnel Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Jewish American journalists New York (state) Democrats The Michigan Daily alumni The Washington Post people University of Michigan alumni Writers from Manhattan Writers from Norwalk, Connecticut Yale University faculty Michigan Democrats