Leonard Pitts Jr. Biography

Leonard Pitts, born and raised in Southern California, having entered school at age 15 on a special honors program, was awarded a degree in English from the University of Southern California at the age of 19. As a writer, millions of people are glad that Leonard Pitts writes. His articles published in one of the most popular newspaper columns in the country are read every week. He is well known thanks to a series of his critically-acclaimed books, including a novel of race, faith and World War II called “The Last Thing You Surrender.” Pitts’ willful devotion to writing has yielded many awards for him, including the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. Pitts also took first place for commentary in division four (newspapers with a circulation of over 300,000) in the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors' Ninth Annual Writing Awards competition in 1997. He is a three-time recipient of the National Association of Black Journalists’ Award of Excellence, and was the chosen NABJ’s Journalist of the Year in 2008. A five-time recipient of the Atlantic City Press Club’s National Headliners Award and a seven-time recipient of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Green Eyeshade Award. In 2001, he received the American Society of Newspaper Editors prestigious Award For Commentary Writing and was named in the column writing division by Editor and Publisher magazine as ‘Feature of the Year’. In 2002, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists awarded Pitts its inaugural Columnist of the Year award; and named him to its Hall of Fame in 2016. GLAAD Media, in 2002 and in 2009, awarded Pitts the Outstanding Newspaper Columnist award. In 2017, he was awarded the prestigious Missouri Honor Medal for “distinguished service to journalism.” So far, he has received four honorary doctorates. While still maintaining his speaking appearances that has taken him to colleges, civic groups and professional associations all over the country, Pitts’ work makes him a sought after lecturer. Also, he has taught at many higher institutions of learning, including Ohio University, Hampton University, Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Maryland. By fall of 2011, he was a visiting professor at Princeton, teaching a course in writing about race. Twice each week, millions of newspaper readers around the country seek out his written publications to read. He has perfected the art of connecting with his readers with just a word. This was demonstrated in the response to his initial column on the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Pitts' column, “We'll Go Forward From This Moment,” an angry and defiant open letter to the terrorists, spread across the globe via the Internet, generating more than 30,000 emails, and has since been set to music, reprinted in posters, read on television by Regis Philbin and quoted by Congressman Richard Gephardt; as part of the Democratic Party's weekly radio address. Leonard Pitts’ was called “the most insightful and inspiring columnist of his generation” by Tavis Smiley. And when Pitts won his Pulitzer Prize, Bob Costas wondered, “What took them so long?” He has lived with his wife in Bowie Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D. C. since 1995.

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