Ira Berkow (born January 7, 1940, in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

) is an American sports reporter, columnist, and writer. He shared the 2001

Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting This Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs in the United States. In its first six years (1942–1947), it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic Reporting – National. Li ...

, which was awarded to the staff of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' for their series ''How Race Is Lived in America''.

Life

Berkow earned his BA in English Literature at

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the ...

, and his MA from the

Medill School of Journalism The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications is a constituent school of Northwestern University that offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. It frequently ranks as the top school of journalism in the Unite ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. He was a reporter for the

Minneapolis Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consoli ...

, a syndicated features writer, sports and general columnist, and sports editor for the

Newspaper Enterprise Association The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) is an editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1902. The oldest syndicate still in operation, the NEA was originally a secondary news ...

. From 1981 to 2007 he was a sports reporter and columnist for ''

'' and has written for Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, Art News, Seventeen, Chicago Magazine, The Chicago Tribune Magazine, National Strategic Forum Review, Reader's Digest, and Sports Illustrated, among others. He shared the 2001

for his article "The Minority Quarterback" in ''The New York Times'' series ''How Race Is Lived in America.'' His work has been reprinted or cited over six decades in the annual anthologies Best Sports Stories and its successor Best American Sports Writing, and a column of his was included in Best American Sports Writing of the Century (1999). The novelist Scott Turow wrote, "Ira Berkow is one of the great American writers, without limitation to the field of sports." He was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1988, "For thoughtful commentary on the sports scene." In 2006, he was inducted into the

International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame ( he, יד לאיש הספורט היהודי, translit=Yad Le'ish HaSport HaYehudi) was opened July 7, 1981 in Netanya, Israel. It honors Jewish athletes and their accomplishments from anywhere around ...

. He holds an honorary doctorate degree from Roosevelt University (Chicago), 2009. Berkow is the author of 26 books including the

Edgar Allan Poe Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

nominated non-fiction ''The Man Who Robbed The Pierre: The Story of Bobby Comfort and the Biggest Hotel Robbery Ever''.

Works

Books

''It Happens Every Spring: DiMaggio, Mays, the Splendid Splinter, and a Lifetime at the Ballpark''
Triumph Books, 2017,
''Giants Among Men: Y.A., L.T., the Big Tuna, and Other New York Giants Stories''
Triumph Books, 2015,
''Counterpunch: Ali, Tyson, the Brown Bomber, and Other Stories of the Boxing Ring''
Triumph Books, 2014,
''Autumns in the Garden: The Coach of Camelot and Other Knicks Stories''
Triumph Books, 2013,
''Summers at Shea: Tom Seaver Loses His Overcoat and Other Mets Stories''
Triumph Books, 2013,
''Summers in the Bronx: Attila the Hun and Other Yankee Stories''
Triumph Books, 2009,
''The Corporal Was a Pitcher: The Courage of Lou Brissie''
Triumph Books, 2009, *''Hank Greenberg: The Story of My Life'', Times Books, 1989, editor
''Red: A Biography of Red Smith, Rockin Steady''
University of Nebraska Press, 2007,
''Court Vision, To The Hoop: The Seasons of a Basketball Life''
University of Nebraska Press, 2004, *''The Gospel According to Casey'', (with Jim Kaplan), St. Martin's Press, 1992, *''The Minority Quarterback & Other Lives In Sports'', I.R. Dee, 2002, *''Full Swing; Hits, Runs and Errors in a Writer’s Life'', Ivan R. Dee Publisher, 2007, *''Maxwell Street, Survival in a Bazaar.'' Doubleday & Co., 1977, . *''To the Hoop The Seasons of a Basketball Life'', Basic Books, 1997. *''How to Talk Jewish'', by Jackie Mason (with Ira Berkow), St. Martin's Press, 1990 *''Hank Greenberg: Hall-of-Fame Slugger'', juvenile, The Jewish Publication Society, 1991 *''Pitchers do Get Lonely, and Other Sports Stories'', Atheneum, 1988 *''Carew'', by Rod Carew (with Ira Berkow), Simon and Schuster, 1979. *''The DuSable Panthers: The Greatest, Blackest, Saddest Team from the Meanest Street in Chicago'', 1978 *''Beyond the Dream: Occasional Heroes of Sports'', (foreword by Red Smith), Atheneum,1975 *''Oscar Robertson: The Golden Year 1964'', Prentice-Hall, 1971 *''Rockin' Steady: A Guide to Basketball and Cool'', by Walt "Clyde" Frazier (with Ira Berkow), 1974 *''Wrigley Feld: An Oral and Narrative History of the Home of the Chicago Cubs'' (with Josh Noel), Stewart, Tabori and Chang, 2014. *''Full Swing: Hits, Runs and Errors in a Writer's Life'', Ivan R. Dee,2006.

Film

*'' Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story'', 2010 documentary film; writer *''Champions of American Sport'', HBO documentary, 1983; film writer

References

External links