William Raspberry

William Raspberry is a columnist with The Washington Post. He graduated with a B.S. in history from Indiana Central College in 1960. His newspaper career began with a summer job at the Indianapolis Recorder in 1956. His duties there as reporter, photographer and editor inspired him to join The Washington Post in 1962, after serving two years in the Army. At The Post, he was hired as a teletype operator and quickly advanced to general assignment reporter, copy editor and assistant city editor.

His coverage of the 1965 Watts riot in Los Angeles earned him the Capital Press Club’s “Journalist of the Year” award, and in 1967 he received a citation of merit in journalism from Lincoln University in Jefferson, Mo., for distinction in improving human relations. In 1994, Raspberry won the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Commentary.