Russell Baker
Russell Baker
Russell Wayne Bakeris an American writer known for his satirical commentary and self-critical prose, as well as for his Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography Growing Up. He was a columnist for The New York Times from 1962 to 1998, and also hosted the PBS show Masterpiece Theatre from 1992 to 2004...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMemoirist
Date of Birth14 August 1925
CityMorrisonville, VA
CountryUnited States of America
dream escaping vienna
Like all young reporters - brilliant or hopelessly incompetent - I dreamed of the glamorous life of the foreign correspondent: prowling Vienna in a Burberry trench coat, speaking a dozen languages to dangerous women, narrowly escaping Sardinian bandits - the usual stuff that newspaper dreams are made of.
writing media people
Letter writing was clearly important to Reagan. Even as president he kept dashing off letters to friends, pen pals, media people, statesmen, critics, and the kind of people who write to presidents never expecting a reply.
grandmother funny-thanksgiving turkeys
It was dramatic to watch my grandmother decapitate a turkey with an ax the day before Thanksgiving. Nowadays the expense of hiring grandmothers for the ax work would probably qualify all turkeys so honored with gourmet status.
funny science car
Is fuel efficiency really what we need most desperately? I say that what we really need is a car that can be shot when it breaks down.
clever two car
When it comes to cars, only two varieties of people are possible - cowards and fools.
law wallets seems
It seems to be a law in American life that whatever enriches us anywhere except in the wallet inevitably becomes uneconomic.
funny break-up work
Inanimate objects can be classified scientifically into three major categories; those that don't work, those that break down and those that get lost.
sunday america political
A group of politicians deciding to dump a President because his morals are bad is like the Mafia getting together to bump off the Godfather for not going to church on Sunday.
wine nursing white
It is fitting that yesteryear's swashbuckling newspaper reporter has turned into today's solemn young sobersides nursing a glass of watered white wine after a day of toiling over computer databases in a smoke-free, noise-free newsroom.
facts breaking-down scientist
Scientists have been struck by the fact that things that break down virtually never get lost, while things that get lost hardly ever break down.
serious needs journalism
Serious journalism need not be solemn.
journalism
Except for politics, no business is scrutinized more exhaustively than journalism.
communication miracle bells
The worst thing about the miracle of modern communications is the Pavlovian pressure it places upon everyone to communicate whenever a bell rings.
love misery company
Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it.