Howell H. Raines

Where else but in Alabama can the genesis of a Pulitzer Prize begin on a football field?  When The Birmingham Post Herald offered free tickets to whoever would cover The University of Alabama’s game against Auburn on Thanksgiving Day 1964 (Alabama 21, Auburn 14), copy desk rookie Howell Raines was ready. He hit the field, ran the sidelines with the Bear, almost lost his pad and his story-line when he went airborne to cheer a breakaway halfback, then wrote what editor Clarke Stallworth says is the best story ever to come from a starter.  It was indeed the start of a monumental career in journalism. 

After the Post Herald, Raines worked as a reporter for WBRC-TV, The Tuscaloosa News, The Birmingham News and The Atlanta Journal Constitution before joining The Saint Petersburg Times. He worked as a film critic and entertainment editor before switching to politics, what would become his best-known beat and where his tenacity would become legendary.  From there he served as a national correspondent in Atlanta for The New York Times and then as White House correspondent, national political correspondent, Washington bureau chief, and editorial page editor before being named executive editor of the Times in 2001.

But Raines's gift for writing was not confined to newsprint.  He published a novel, a memoir about mid-life, and an account of the civil rights movement, changing not only the face of literary nonfiction but also the hearts of those who read his work.  This intensely personal touch with which he wrote about civil rights contributed to his wining a Pulitzer Prize in 1992 for "Grady's Gift,” a personal reflection about his childhood in Birmingham and a woman named Grady who shaped his life. 

Less than a decade later and under his leadership, The New York Times covered the biggest story of our time: September 11.  Only days into the job, his office became command central as The Times did the work that won it seven Pulitzers for their coverage, a record by all accounts.  To date he has received or been directly linked to nine Pulitzers (that's a touch down and field goal if you're keeping score). 

But numbers have never been what Raines is about; he is about style—of words that is.  Cynthia Tucker, editorial page editor of the Atlanta Journal Constitution claims he was one of the first stylists. Diane McWhorter, Pulitzer Prize winner for Carry Me Home claims she and any other serious writer of the civil rights movement must begin with the oral memoirs he gathered and explained in My Soul Is Rested.  "It's the civil rights Bible,” she said.  “He writes like a dream." Part of his dream, personally and professionally, has been to tell the story of history, whether last hour's news conference from the White House or last night's local election results; but, because he cannot be satisfied with half-told stories, he has become known as a sort of Southern-culture street fighter, demanding a complete look at history-in-the-making no matter how unpleasant.  

Some say his unflinching perfection and dedication is reminiscent of “The Bear” himself.  Certainly he is one of the few, if not the only big-time editor to employ Bearisms to get at larger truths: “If you didn't come to win the national championship,” Paul Bryant told his team, “you're in the wrong place.”  Some say Raines did not just quote him; he channeled him.

Raines earned his B.A. from Birmingham Southern College.  After graduation in 1964, he served “active duty” with the National Guard and he continued his education at The University of Alabama where he received his Masters in English before striking out for new territory.

His courage of conviction has inspired countless journalists and writers, especially those who could have suffered from a sense of regional inferiority. Raines has never understood inferiority-- in himself or anyone else.  His intellect encompasses a depth and breadth uncommon to most and spoken of with awe by those who have known him.  He is passionate, gifted, intelligent, determined, and fearless; not to mention shot through with electric energy.  And whether under his charge, or watching him charge, it is impossible to deny that this is a man who plays to win.  Newsday said first what The Bear would have said, “Roll Howell Roll!”