Jules Feiffer (1929–2025), satirical cartoonist

Jules Feiffer was a cartoonist and writer whose satirical wit earned him a Pulitzer Prize in 1986 and made him one of the most influential cartoonists of the 20th century. 

Tom Shales (1944–2024), Pulitzer-winning TV critic

Tom Shales was a Pulitzer Prize-winning television critic who spent over 30 years with the Washington Post and was known for his sharp wit and cutting insights.

David Del Tredici (1937–2023), Pulitzer Prize-winning composer

David Del Tredici was a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer for the stage whose work was inspired by “Alice in Wonderland,” including his 1976 breakthrough work, “Final Alice,” which made him renowned as an “outsider” composer.

Louise Glück (1943–2023), Nobel- and Pulitzer-winning poet 

Louise Glück was a poet and essayist whose exploration of trauma, death, loss, and struggle earned her the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, a National Book Award, and many others.

Sheldon Harnick (1924–2023), Fiddler on the Roof lyricist 

Sheldon Harnick was a lyricist best known for his Broadway collaborations with composer , including the hit musicals “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Fiorello!”

Cormac McCarthy (1933–2023), Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Road

Cormac McCarthy was a Pulitzer Prize-winning author known for novels including “The Road,” “Blood Meridian,” and “All the Pretty Horses.”

Gerald Stern (1925–2022), award-winning poet

Gerald Stern was a poet who won a National Book Award in 1998 for his collection “This Time: New and Selected Poems.”

David McCullough (1933–2022), Pulitzer-winning author of “Truman,” “John Adams”

David McCullough was a Pulitzer Prize-winning author of popular history narratives, as well as the narrator of films including “Seabiscuit.”

Larry McMurtry (1936–2021), Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Lonesome Dove”

Larry McMurtry was an author and screenwriter known for novels including “Lonesome Dove” and “The Last Picture Show” as well as his Oscar-winning adapted screenplay for “Brokeback Mountain.”

Nicholas Kittrie (1926–2019), Pulitzer Prize-nominated author

Nicholas Kittrie was a legal scholar, a law professor, and the Pulitzer Prize-nominated author of books about international law and morality including “Rebels With a Cause: The Minds and Morality of Political Offenders.” His “The Task Ahead” helped inform the development of the South African constitution, and he co-edited “The Future of Peace in the 21st Century” in collaboration with the Nobel Peace Prize Committee as part of the celebration of the prize’s 100th anniversary. A professor at American University’s Washington College of Law, Kittrie was the college’s longest-tenured professor and taught for more than 50 years.

Toni Morrison Changed Literature and the World: A Tribute

When we speak these days of “queens,” it is a sweet and well-meaning hyperbole. Beyonce is a queen. Your girlfriend is a queen. We get that those instances are a caprice. But when you use the word in relation to Toni Morrison, it must be said with all of the qualities the word “queen” possesses.

Toni Morrison (1931–2019), Nobel Prize-winning author of “Beloved”

Toni Morrison was the Nobel Prize-winning author of best-selling novels including “Beloved,” “Song of Solomon,” and “The Bluest Eye.” Her critically acclaimed books told powerful stories of black lives in America, from the time of slavery through modern days. “Beloved” (1987) won the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award, while “Song of Solomon” (1977) had the distinction of being the first book by a black author chosen as a main selection of the Book of the Month Club since Richard Wright’s “Native Son,” 37 years earlier. Her most recent work was “God Help the Child” (2015) and she also wrote non-fiction, children’s literature, and plays including “Desdemona.” When she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993, Morrison became the first black woman to win a Nobel Prize. She was recognized with many other honors including the National Humanities Medal in 2000, the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction in 2011, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, presented to her by President Barack Obama in 2012.

Herman Wouk (1915–2019), “The Caine Mutiny” author

Other novels include the World War II epic “The Winds of War.”

Mary Oliver (1935–2019), Pulitzer Prize-winning poet

Beloved poet wrote about nature.

Dave Anderson (1929–2018), longtime New York Times sports columnist

One of three sportswriters who have won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary.

Neil Simon (1927–2018), “The Odd Couple” playwright

Neil Simon, one of the most popular and prolific playwrights and screenwriters of the second half of the 20th century, died Sunday, Aug. 26, 2018, of complications from pneumonia, according to his publicist Bill Evans as reported by CNN. He was 91.

Charles Krauthammer (1950–2018), influential conservative voice

Worked for The Washington Post and Fox News Channel…

Philip Roth (1933 – 2018), Award-winning novelist

Philip Roth, the prize-winning novelist and fearless narrator of sex, death, assimilation and fate, from the comic madness of "Portnoy's Complaint" to the elegiac lyricism of "American Pastoral," died Tuesday night, according to the Associated Press. He was 85.

John Ashbery (1927–2017)

Celebrated poet won a Pulitzer Prize.

Written by Him and Her

We take a look back at successful writing partners who were also romantic partners.

Sam Shepard (1943 -2017), Pulitzer Prize-winning True West playwright

Sam Shepard, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and Oscar-nominated actor, died July 27, 2017, according to multiple news sources. He was 73.

Roger Wilkins (1932–2017), Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist

Roger Wilkins, a civil rights activist, historian, and journalist who won a Pulitzer Prize, died Sunday, March 26, 2017, according to multiple news sources. He was 85.

Jimmy Breslin (1928–2017), NYC newspaper columnist

Legendary New York City newspaper columnist.

Joe Marquette (1937 - 2016), Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer

Joe Marquette, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer who covered the Olympics and Super Bowls, has died at the age of 79, according to The Associated Press.

Edward Albee (1928 - 2016), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf playwright

Albee was one of the most acclaimed and influential American playwrights of the 20th century. He won the Tony Award for best play for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (1963) and “The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?” (2002), and was a three-time Pulitzer Prize-winner for drama.

Louis Terkel, Better Known as Studs

Studs Terkel was known for his innate curiosity about people – all kinds of people doing all sorts of things – and for his interview style that elicited the most private thoughts from his subjects.

Gwendolyn Brooks Made Poetry That Mattered

The life and career of the first African American poet to win a Pulitzer Prize.

Aaron Copland, Dean of American Composers

Aaron Copland, known as the Dean of American Composers, died 20 years ago on this day. In his honor, we present 20 facts about his life and work.