Russell Baker, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and long-time New York Times columnist, died January 21 at age 93. After an early career that included stints as a police reporter, rewrite man and London correspondent for the Baltimore Sun, and Washington correspondent for the Times, Baker became a columnist in 1962. He wrote nearly 5,000 "Observer" commentaries before his retirement in 1998. Baker's irreverent musings earned the 1979 Pulitzer for distinguished commentary.
Baker published 15 books, including many column collections: No Cause for Panic (1964), Baker's Dozen (1964), All Things Considered (1965), Poor Russell's Almanac (1972), So This Is Depravity (1980) and The Rescue of Miss Yaskell and Other Pipe Dreams (1983). Baker's memoir Growing Up (1982) earned his second Pulitzer, the 1983 prize for biography. Baker also won two George Polk Awards, for commentary in 1978 and career achievement in 1998, and many other honors. In addition, he edited the Norton Book of Light Verse (1986) and Russell Baker's Book of American Humor (1993).
In his final "Observer" column, "A Few Words at the End," Baker wrote: "Thanks to newspapers. I have made a four-hour visit to Afghanistan, have seen the Taj Mahal by moonlight, breakfasted at dawn on lamb and couscous while sitting by the marble pool of a Moorish palace in Morocco and once picked up a persistent family of fleas in the Balkans.... I could go on and on, and probably will somewhere sometime, but the time for this enterprise is up. Thanks for listening for the past three million words."