Pulitzer Winner Visits The Village at Rockville

Pulitzer-Prize winning author Russell Baker visited The Village at Rockville on March 23 for a book signing and discussion.

Baker, 86, autographed books, posed for pictures and shared excerpts from his autobiography Growing Up, which was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1983.

The book describes Baker’s childhood in rural Virginia. Finding the “right voice” for the book was his greatest challenge, Baker told the audience of more than 100 residents from and the surrounding community.

“I wrote it because I wanted to speak to my children who were then teenagers," Baker said. "I thought, ‘I have all the wisdom of the world at my command, but they never listen to me. Maybe I can write something that will make them see what I am talking about.’”

Baker is known for his satirical commentary, self-critical prose and winning the Pulitzer Prize twice—once for Growing Up and the other for his nationally syndicated “Observer” column for The New York Times. Baker, a noted journalist, humorist, essayist and biographer has written or edited 17 books.  The sequel to his autobiography was published in 1989 and called The Good Times.

He was the regular host of the PBS television series Masterpiece Theatre from 1993 to 2004.