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Russell Baker

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Russell Baker
Born
Russell Wayne Baker

August 14, 1925
Loudoun County, Virginia
DiedJanuary 21, 2019 (aged 93)
Leesburg, Virginia
Notable workGrowing Up
AwardsPulitzer Prize (1982)

For the investigative journalist, see Russ Baker. For the aviator, see Russ Baker (pilot).

Russell Wayne Baker (August 14, 1925 – January 21, 2019) was an American journalist, narrator, and writer of satirical commentary and self-critical prose, as well as a Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography Growing Up (1982).[1] He was a columnist for The New York Times from 1962 to 1998, and hosted the PBS show Masterpiece Theatre from 1992 to 2004. 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."[2]

Career

Writing and editing

Born in Loudoun County, Virginia,[3] Baker was the son of Benjamin Rex Baker and Lucy Elizabeth (née Robinson).[4] At the age of eleven, as a self-professed "bump on a log," Baker decided to become a writer since he figured "what writers did couldn't even be classified as work."[5] A graduate of Johns Hopkins University (1947), he went on to become an essayist, journalist, and biographer, as well as the second host of the PBS show Masterpiece Theatre from 1992 to 2004, succeeding Alistair Cooke. After covering the White House, United States Congress, and the United States Department of State for The New York Times for eight years, Baker wrote the nationally syndicated Observer column for the newspaper from 1962 to 1998; initially oriented toward politics, the column began to encompass other subjects after he relocated to New York City in 1974. During his long career, he was a regular contributor to national periodicals such as The New York Times Magazine, Sports Illustrated, The Saturday Evening Post, and McCalls. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1993.[6]

Baker wrote or edited seventeen books. Baker's first Pulitzer was for distinguished commentary for his Observer columns (1979) and the second one was for his autobiography, Growing Up (1982). 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.[7] He edited the anthologies The Norton Book of Light Verse (1986) and Russell Baker's Book of American Humor (1993). At the time of his death he resided in Leesburg, Virginia.

Other activities

Baker wrote the libretto for the 1979 musical play Home Again, Home Again, starring Ronny Cox, with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Barbara Fried,[8] choreography by Onna White, and direction by Gene Saks.[9] After an unsuccessful tryout at the American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, Connecticut, the show closed in Toronto and never made it to Broadway. "That was a great experience," Baker said in a 1994 interview with the Hartford Courant. "Truly dreadful, but fun. I was sorry [the show] folded because I was having such a good time. But once is enough."[10]

In 1993, Baker replaced Alistair Cooke as the regular host of the PBS television series Masterpiece Theatre. "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."[11]

In 1995, he narrated the Ric Burns documentary The Way West for PBS' American Experience.[12][13]

Assessment

Neil Postman, in the preface to Conscientious Objections, described Baker as "like some fourth century citizen of Rome 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)

Personal life

In 1950, Baker married Miriam Nash, who died in 2015. The couple had four children, Allen, Kasia, Michael, and Phyllis.[14] Baker died at his home in Leesburg, Virginia, on January 21, 2019, after complications following a fall.[15]

References

  1. ^ Campbell, Colin (January 22, 2019). "Baltimore-raised Pulitzer Prize winner Russell Baker dies at 93". Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, MD. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  2. ^ Terry Eastland, ed. Forbes Media Guide Five Hundred, 1994: A Critical Review of the Media (1994) p 275
  3. ^ McFadden, Robert D. (January 22, 2019). "Russell Baker, Pulitzer-Winning Times Columnist and Humorist, Dies at 93". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  4. ^ Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, vol. 2, R. Reginald, 1979, pg 805
  5. ^ "Russell Baker Takes on the 20th Century," The Washington Post, October 3, 1982.
  6. ^ "Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter B" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved May 9, 2011.
  7. ^ "Russell Baker," Encyclopædia Britannica, britannica.com
  8. ^ "Home Again, Home Again : CastAlbums.org". castalbums.org. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  9. ^ Suskin, Steven, Show Tunes: The Songs, Shows, and Careers of Broadway's Major Composers, Fourth Edition, New York: Oxford University Press USA, 2010.
  10. ^ "Russell Baker Speaks His Mind," The Hartford Courant, March 16, 1994
  11. ^ Writer, Frank Rizzo; Courant Staff. "RUSSELL BAKER SPEAKS HIS MIND". courant.com. Retrieved January 23, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ The Way West at imdb.com.
  13. ^ Gary Edgerton, Ken Burns's America: Packaging the Past for Television. Palgrave/St. Martin's Press, 2001.
  14. ^ Campbell, Colin (January 22, 2019). "Baltimore-raised Pulitzer Prize winner Russell Baker dies at 93". Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, MD. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  15. ^ McFadden, Robert D. (January 22, 2019). "Russell Baker, Pulitzer-Winning Times Columnist and Humorist, Dies at 93". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
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Preceded by Host of Masterpiece Theatre
1992–2004 		Succeeded by
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