David Moats is an American

editorialist Editorialist is a luxury accessories e-commerce website. The website was founded on February 7, 2013 by the two leading accessories editors at ''Elle'', Kate Davidson Hudson and Stefania Allen. It focuses on luxury accessories such as shoes, bags a ...

, known for winning a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

in 2001 for his series of 10 editorials on issues revolving around

civil unions A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

for same-sex couples.

Early life and education

Moats was born in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

in 1947. He graduated from the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

with a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

in 1969. He was a

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...

Volunteer in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

from 1969-1972.

Career

Moats began working for the ''

Rutland Herald The ''Rutland Herald'' is the second largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Vermont (after ''The Burlington Free Press''). It is published in Rutland. With a daily circulation of about 12,000, it is the main source of news geared towards t ...

'' in 1982. He was an editorial page editor for the ''Rutland Herald'' and the ''

Barre Montpelier Times Argus The ''Barre Montpelier Times Argus'' is a daily morning newspaper serving the capital region of Vermont. It was established in 1897. The newspaper claims that "80% of all adults in the Barre/Montpelier area read the Times Argus for local news, s ...

'' from 1992-2018. Before becoming an editorial page editor, he was a wire editor, state editor, assisting managing editor and city editor. The newspapers eliminated Moats' position and let him go in February 2018. He has written eleven plays, four of which have been produced by theater companies in

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

. His play, “Hard News” won the Vermont Playwright's Award from The Valley Players in Waitsfield, Vermont in 1987. Moats was also a

juror in 2002, judging commentary and in 2003, judging editorial cartooning.

Personal life

He lives in

Middlebury, Vermont Middlebury is the shire town (county seat) of Addison County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 9,152. Middlebury is home to Middlebury College and the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History. History One of ...

. He has three children named Jared, Thatcher and Nina Moats. He occasionally appears on Vermont Public Radio as a commentator.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moats, David Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Writers from Salt Lake City University of California, Santa Barbara alumni Journalists from Vermont