Russell Baker
Russell Baker was an influential American humorist and writer, renowned for his keen observations on a variety of subjects, including politics and rural life. Born in 1925 in Virginia, Baker faced early adversity following the death of his father, which prompted his family to move frequently in search of stability. He began his writing career at the Baltimore Sun before joining The New York Times, where his column "The Observer" gained widespread acclaim and earned him a Pulitzer Prize in 1979. Baker's writing style combined humor with a reflective tone, allowing him to address serious topics without diminishing their significance.
His autobiographical work, *Growing Up*, published in 1982, also won a Pulitzer Prize and provided a poignant look at his childhood during the Great Depression. Baker continued to write prolifically, publishing collections of his humorous essays and books, including children's literature and a novel. In addition to his writing, he hosted the PBS series *Masterpiece Theatre*. Baker's legacy is marked by his ability to blend humor with deep observations about life, making his work resonate with readers across generations. He retired from his column in 1998, leaving behind a rich body of literature that reflects both the challenges and joys of the human experience.
Russell Baker
Writer
- Born: August 14, 1925
- Birthplace: Morrisonville, Virginia
- Died: January 21, 2019
- Place of death: Leesburg, VA
American humorist and memoirist
Biography
Russell Wayne Baker became one of the best-known and well-respected writers of humor in the United States through his wry observations of everything from politics to rural life. His column in The New York Times, "The Observer," enjoyed enormous success, running for several decades and garnering numerous awards, including a Pulitzer Prize in 1979. Baker also won a Pulitzer for the autobiography Growing Up (1982).
Baker was born in Morrisonville, Virginia, in 1925 to Benjamin and Lucy Baker. His father died of diabetes when Baker was five years old, at which time his mother sent his youngest sister to live with relatives while she took the two older children to find a financially stable future. Russell, his mother, and his other sister moved to several places in Virginia, New Jersey, and Maryland. Eventually, with the help of relatives, Baltimore became a home to Lucy Baker and her children.
After a two-year service in the US Naval Reserve from 1943 to 1945, Russell Baker attended The Johns Hopkins University and got his first writing job, for the Baltimore Sun, after graduating in 1947. He married Miriam Emily Nash on March 11, 1950, and they had three children, Kathleen, Allen, and Michael.
Baker worked for a time in London, writing a weekly column for the Sun entitled "From a Window on Fleet Street," and in 1954 he was hired by The New York Times to be a staff reporter covering the White House, Congress, and the State Department. He reported on political activities in Washington for the next several years until he decided to leave political reporting.
The New York Times offered him his own column as an incentive to stay. His first piece, published in 1962, was a fictional, satirical version of a press conference by John F. Kennedy. His political commentary became quite popular, and he wrote his column from Washington through the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations. His columns were published in several books, notably Baker’s Dozen and All Things Considered. Baker’s popularity as a political columnist stemmed from his ability to blend objectivity, respect, and a wry sense of humor that neither denigrated nor exalted his subjects. Over the years the column, titled "The Observer," shifted away from purely political subjects to tackle a wide range of topics.
For the next twenty years he continued to write "The Observer." He also published collections of his articles as well as other books, including a children’s book (The Upside Down Man, 1977) and a novel (Our Next President, 1968). However, Baker’s fictional endeavors did not garner him the same attention and praise as did his nonfiction works.
In 1974 Baker and The New York Times decided that he would relocate to New York City. In a 1972 interview, he had stated that "I’m basically a guy with a yearning for the past, a time when things were better. Life was better when there were trains. It’s probably a sign of the hardening of the mental arteries, this yearning for boyhood." After his move to New York, Baker indulged himself in writing about his yearning for simpler times, expounding on life’s foibles with the whimsy of James Thurber, to whom he has often been compared, and with the homespun warmth of Norman Rockwell. The great popularity of his column combined with its literary depth made him a household name and brought him the Pulitzer in 1979. that same year he was featured on the front cover of Time magazine.
Saying that his children "ought to know what went into their making, to know that life is a braided cord of humanity stretching up from time long gone," Baker wrote the first volume of his memoirs, Growing Up, in 1982. This bittersweet story of his early years with his mother was universally praised, and Baker won his second Pulitzer Prize, in 1983, for the book. It both celebrated and eulogized Depression-era America. It is as much a story of the ability of children to adapt to adversity as it is a story of Baker’s family, warts and all. In 1989 Baker followed Growing Up with a second installment of his autobiography, entitled The Good Times, which was also highly praised. It primarily deals with Baker’s early days as a reporter on the Baltimore Sun, in particular chronicling the time he spent in London.
In addition to writing Baker took a position as the host of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) television series Masterpiece Theatre in 1993. In 1998 he retired from his longstanding New York Times column, with the last entry of "The Observer" appearing on Christmas Day of that year. He continued to publish works of nonfiction, such as Looking Back: Heroes Rascals, and Other Icons of the American Imagination (2002). He also remained a frequent contributor to various periodicals, writing on his usual mix of diverse subjects. Throughout his career, whether writing about the foibles of politicians and the American political process or about life in Depression-era Baltimore, Baker wrote with a sense that the world is a difficult place. Yet his humor indicated that, although life is often painful, there is joy and beauty to be found.
Bibliography
Baker, Russell. "When Writing is Fun, It's Not Very Good." Interview by Adrienne LaFrance. Medium. Medium, 18 Nov. 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.
Grauer, Neil. Wits and Sages. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984. Print.
Just, Ward. “Still Growing Up: A Reporter’s Journey.” The New York Times Book Review, May 28, 1989. Print.
Lingeman, Richard. “Suspiciously Like Real Life.” The New York Times, October 17, 1982. Print.
“The Reluctant Debutante.” The New Yorker, March 8, 1993. Print.
"Russell Baker." Baltimore Literary Heritage Project. University of Baltimore's School of Communication Design, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.
"Russell Baker." Penguin. Penguin Random House, 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.
Sheppard, R. Z. “Restless on His Laurels.” Time, June 5, 1989. Print.