Russell Baker
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Russell Wayne Baker (born August 14, 1925) is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning writer known for his satirical commentary and self-critical prose. Notably known for his autobiography, Growing Up.
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[edit] Early years
Baker was born in Morrisonville, Virginia. He received his B.A. from the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences at Johns Hopkins University in 1947. He went on to become an essayist, journalist and biographer, as well as the host of the PBS show Masterpiece Theatre from 1992 to 2004.
[edit] Description
Neil Postman, in the preface to Conscientious Objections, describes 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) He received his Pulitzer Prizes for the New York Times "Observer" column he wrote, and for his memoir entitled Growing Up.
[edit] Notable quotations
- "The goal of all inanimate objects is to resist man and ultimately defeat him." A contribution to the philosophy of Resistentialism
- "The worst thing about being a tourist is having other tourists recognize you as a tourist."
- "Usually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress requires them are not really progress at all, but just terrible things."
- "Reporters thrive on the world's misfortune. For this reason they often take an indecent pleasure in events that dismay the rest of humanity."
- "I gave up on new poetry myself thirty years ago, when most of it began to read like coded messages passing between lonely aliens on a hostile world."
[edit] External links
| Preceded by: Alistair Cooke |
Host of Masterpiece Theatre 1992–2004 |
Succeeded by: TBA |
