William Raspberry (October 12, 1935 – July 17, 2012) was an American syndicated
public affairs columnist. He was also the Knight Professor of the Practice of Communications and Journalism at the
Sanford Institute of Public Policy at
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
. An
African American, he frequently wrote on racial issues.
In 1999, Raspberry received the
Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award as well as an honorary
Doctor of Laws degree from
Colby College.
Career
After earning a B.S. in history at the
University of Indianapolis in 1958, Raspberry continued to work at the local weekly ''
Indianapolis Recorder'' where he had begun in 1956, rising to associate managing editor. He was
drafted and served as a
U.S. Army public information officer from 1960–1962. The ''
Washington Post'' hired him as a
teletypist in 1962.
[ Raspberry quickly rose in the ranks of the paper, becoming a columnist in 1966. Raspberry was a finalist for the ]Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
in 1982, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1994.
Raspberry supported gay rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , 3 ...
, writing at least one column condemning gay-bashing.[Archive Search for "William Raspberry" gay](_blank)
archival list of William Raspberry's columns on gay issues at the Washington Post 1993-2005. He argued against certain torts and complaints from the disabled. '' Ragged Edge'', a disabled-rights publication, published complaints from letters to the editor that the ''Post'' did not print.
Raspberry retired in December 2005. He provided the ''Washington Post'' a guest column on November 11, 2008, commenting on the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States.[Raspberry, William]
A Path Beyond Grievance
November 11, 2008, ''Washington Post.'' Accessed May 23, 2009.
As of 2008, he was president of "Baby Steps", a parent training and empowerment program based in Okolona, Mississippi. Raspberry was an alumnus of Okolona College.
He is the author of ''Looking Backward at Us'', a collection of his columns from the 1980s.
Death
Raspberry died of prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...
on July 17, 2012, aged 76. He was buried at Rock Creek Cemetery.
References
External links
William Raspberry's column in ''The Washington Post''
Raspberry's Duke University Homepage
dated 2008/08/12
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Raspberry, William
1935 births
2012 deaths
African-American writers
African-American journalists
American columnists
Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C.
Deaths from prostate cancer
Duke University faculty
Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award recipients
Pulitzer Prize for Commentary winners
The Washington Post people
People from Okolona, Mississippi
Writers from Indiana
Writers from Mississippi
University of Indianapolis alumni
Journalists from Mississippi
Burials at Rock Creek Cemetery
20th-century African-American people
21st-century African-American people