Michael Williamson (born 1957) is an American

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

. He has won two

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 ...

s. Of the books he has made with writer

Dale Maharidge Dale Maharidge (born 24 October 1956) is an American author, journalist and academic best known for his collaborations with photographer Michael Williamson. Maharidge and Williamson's book '' And Their Children After Them'' won the Pulitzer Prize ...

while both men were on the staff of the ''

Sacramento Bee ''The Sacramento Bee'' is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its foundation in 1857, ''The Bee'' has become the largest newspaper in Sacramento, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 2 ...

,'' '' And Their Children After Them'' won the

Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are awarded annually for the "Letters, Drama, and Music" category. The award is given to a nonfiction book written by an American author and published duri ...

in 1990 and ''Journey to Nowhere: The Saga of the New Underclass'' was credited by singer-songwriter

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

as an inspiration for two songs from his album ''The Ghost of Tom Joad'', "

Youngstown Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, which ...

" and " The New Timer". In 1993, Williamson became a staff photographer for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''. Photos he took on assignment in

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

, along with the work of Post colleagues

Carol Guzy Carol Guzy (born March 7, 1956) is an American news photographer. Guzy worked as a staff photographer for the ''Miami Herald'' from 1980 to 1988 and ''The Washington Post'' from 1988 to 2014. As of April 2022, Guzy is a contract photographer for ...

and

Lucian Perkins Lucian Perkins is an American photojournalist, who is best known for covering a number of conflicts with profound compassion for his photograph's subjects, including the war in Afghanistan, Kosovo and the 1991 Persian Gulf War. It has been said ...

, led to Williamson's share of another Pulitzer in 2000. Orphaned at an early age, Williamson grew up in a series of foster homes, a circumstance to which he attributes his interest in the poor and the downtrodden.

Books with Dale Maharidge

*'' And Their Children After Them'' (1989) *''Journey to Nowhere: The Saga of the New Underclass'' **Re-released. 1995. With a foreword by

. *''The Last Great American Hobo'' (1993) *''Homeland'' *''Denison, Iowa''

References

1957 births Living people Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction winners Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography winners American photojournalists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers {{US-photographer-stub