Russell Baker won the 1979 George Polk Award for Commentary, the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Commentary, and the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Biography for his book
Growing Up (1982). He served as a long-time columnist for the
New York Times, writing the syndicated column "Observer" and hosted the PBS show Masterpiece Theatre. He also wrote a sequel to
Growing Up called
The Good Times (1989).
Baker's career began in 1947 at the
Baltimore Sun, going on to join the Washington Bureau of the
New York Times in 1954, covering national politics, in particular Congress and the White House. "Observer" began in 1962 and covered everything from national controversies to personal experiences. Baker retired from column writing in 1998, after more than three decades of well-loved and well-read writing.
