Background

Baker, Russell Wayne was born on August 14, 1925 in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. Son of Benjamin Rex and Lucy Elizabeth (Robinson) Baker.

Education

Bachelor, Johns Hopkins University, 1947. Doctor of Humane Letters, Johns Hopkins University. Doctor of Humane Letters, Hamilton College.

Doctor of Humane Letters, Franklin Pierce College. Doctor of Humane Letters, Princeton University. Doctor of Humane Letters, Yale University.

Doctor of Humane Letters, Long Island University. Doctor of Humane Letters, Connecticut College. Doctor of Laws, Union College.

Doctor of Literature, Wake Forest University. Doctor of Literature, University Miami. Doctor of Literature, Rutgers University.

Doctor of Literature, Columbia University. Doctor of Humanities, Hood College.

Career

Writing and editingAt the age of eleven, as a self-professed "bump on a log," Baker decided to become a writer since he figured "what writers did couldn't even be classified as work." A graduate of Johns Hopkins University (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. During his long career, he was a regular contributor to national periodicals such as The New York Times Magazine, Sports Illustrated, The Saturday Evening Post, and McCalls. Baker wrote or edited seventeen books.

Baker's first Pulitzer was for distinguished commentary for his Observer columns (1979) and the second one was for his autobiography, Growing Up (1982). He wrote a sequel to his autobiography in 1989, called The Good Times. His other works include An American in Washington (1961), No Cause for Panic (1964), Poor Russell’s Almanac (1972), Looking Back: Heroes, Rascals, and Other Icons of the American Imagination (2002), and various anthologies of his columns.

He edited the anthologies The Norton Book of Light Verse (1986) and Russell Baker's Book of American Humor (1993). He currently resides in Leesburg, Virginia. Other activitiesBaker wrote the libretto for the 1979 musical play Home Again, Home Again, starring Ronny Cox, with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Barbara Fried, choreography by Onna White, and direction by Gene Saks.

After an unsuccessful tryout at the American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, Connecticut, the show closed in Toronto and never made it to Broadway. "Truly dreadful, but fun. I was sorry folded because I was having such a good time.

But once is enough." In 1993, Baker replaced Alistair Cooke as the regular host of the PBS television series Masterpiece Theatre. "That's talking-head stuff," he said. "Television is harder than I thought it was.

I can't bear to look at myself. I fancied that I was an exceedingly charming, witty and handsome young man, and here's this fidgeting old fellow whose hair is parted on the wrong side." 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).

Achievements

• He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1993.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Outrageous Fortune: Growing Up at Leeds Castle

    ( In his stunning memoir, Outrageous Fortune, Anthony Rus...)

  • ALL THINGS CONSIDERED [ 1st ]

    (RUSSELL BAKER is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning write...)

  • Growing Up (Signet)

    (This Pulitzer Prize-winner is "the saddest, funniest, mos...)

  • All Things Considered

    (First edition of this collection of Baker's columns from ...)

  • So This Is Depravity and Other Observations

    (So This Is Depravity and Other Observations [Hardcover] [...)

  • Our next President;: The incredible story of what happened in the 1968 elections

    (Our Next President: The Incredible Story Of What Happened...)

  • The Upside-Down Man

    (A mad scientist and a boy who can't do anything right tea...)

  • The Rescue of Miss Yaskell: And Other Pipe Dreams

    (DUST SOILING TO PAGE EDGES ELSE FINE IN A FINE DJ. 8vo - ...)

  • Don't Die with Your Music Still in You: My Experience Growing Up with Spiritual Parents

    (      In 2001, Dr. Wayne Dyer wrote a book called 10 Sec...)

  • Washington, City on the Potomac
  • NO CAUSE FOR PANIC
  • No Cause for Panic
  • So This Depravity
  • so This Depravity
  • So This is Depravity and Othear Observations
  • SO THIS IS DEPRAVITY and Other Oservations By Russell Baker
  • The Rescue of Miss Yaskell (And Other Pipe Dreams) [Large Print]
  • Our Next President: The Incredible Story of What Happened in the 1968 Election
  • Washington: City on the Potomac
  • Our Next President: The Incredible Story of What Happened in the 1968 Election

• Other Work

  • Author: City on the Potomac, 1958, American in Washington, 1961, No Cause for Panic, 1964, All Things Considered, 1965, Our Next President, 1968, Poor Russell's Almanac, 1972, The Upside Down Man, 1977, So This Is Depravity, 1980, (with others) Home Again, Home Again, 1979, Growing Up, 1982, The Rescue of Miss Yaskell and Other Pipe Dreams, 1983, The Good Times, 1989, There's a Country in My Cellar, 1990. Editor The Norton Book of Light Verse, 1986, Russell Baker's Book of American Humor, 1993. Host: Masterpiece Theatre, since 1992.

Politics

After covering the White House, Congress and the State Department for The New York Times for eight years, Baker wrote the nationally syndicated Observer column for the newspaper from 1962 to 1998. Initially oriented toward politics, the column began to encompass other subjects after he relocated to New York City in 1974. "That was a great experience," Baker said in a 1994 interview with the Hartford Courant.

Views

Quotations: "That was a great experience,". "That's talking-head stuff,".

Membership

Served with United States Naval Reserve, 1943-1945. Member American Academy and Institute Arts and Letters (elected 1984), American Academy Arts and Sciences (fellow 1993).

Connections

Married Miriam Emily Nash, March 11, 1950. Children: Kathleen Leland, Allen Nash, Michael Lee.

Father:

Benjamin Rex Baker

Mother:

Lucy Elizabeth (Robinson) Baker

Spouse:

Miriam Emily Nash

child:

Kathleen Leland Baker

child:

Allen Nash Baker

child:

Michael Lee Baker