Russell
Baker has been charming readers for years with his astute
political commentary and biting cerebral wit. The noted
journalist, humorist, essayist, and biographer has written or
edited seventeen books, and was the author of the nationally
syndicated "Observer" column for the New York Times
from 1962 to 1998. Called by Robert Sherrill of the Washington
Post Book World, "the supreme satirist of this
half-century," Baker is most famous for turning the daily
gossip of most
newspapers into the stuff of laugh-out-loud literature. John
Skow, of
Time described Baker's work as "funny, but full of the pain
and
absurdity of the age. . .he can write with a hunting strain of
melancholy, with delight, or. . .with shame or
outrage." Baker received
his first Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary in 1979, in
recognition of his "Observer" column.
"For a look at how we live now. . .Baker has no superiors,
and few
peers." - Joe Mysak of Spectator
Baker received
his second Pulitzer Prize in 1983 for his autobiography,
Growing Up (1983). With a moving mix of humor and
sadness, Baker
insightfully recounts the struggles he and his mother endured in
depression-era Virginia, New Jersey, and Baltimore after his
father
passed away. The book's greatest achievement is Baker's
portrayal of his mother, a driven woman haunted by poverty and
dreams of her son's
success. "I would make something of myself," he
wrote, "and if I lacked
the grit to do it, well then she would make me make something of
myself." Mary Lee Settle of the Los Angeles Times
Book Review called
Growing Up, "a wondrous book, funny, sad, and strong.
. .(with scenes)
"as funny and touching as Mark Twain's." Jonathan
Yardley of Washington Post Book World declared that "Baker
has accomplished the memoirist's task: to find shape and
meaning in his own life, and to make it interesting and pertinent
to the reader. In lovely, haunting prose, he
has told a story that is deeply in the American grain."
In addition to
his regular column and numerous books, Baker has also
edited the anthologies, The Norton Book of Light Verse
(1986) and
Russell Baker's Book of American Humor (1993). Since
1993, he has been the regular host of the PBS television series, Masterpiece
Theatre. Baker is a regular contributor to national periodicals such as The
New
York Times Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Saturday Evening
Post, and
McCalls. One of his columns, How to Hypnotize
Yourself into Forgetting
the Vietnam War, was dramatized and filmed by Eli Wallach for
PBS.
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