Philip P. Kerby (1911–1993) was an American

editorial writer An editorial, or leading article (UK) or leader (UK) is an article written by the senior editorial people or publisher of a newspaper, magazine, or any other written document, often unsigned. Australian and major United States newspapers, suc ...

who worked for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' from 1971 to 1985. He won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing in 1976. With only a high school education, Kerby was "regarded as highly self-educated and extremely bright".

Otis Chandler Otis Chandler (November 23, 1927 – February 27, 2006) was the publisher of the ''Los Angeles Times'' between 1960 and 1980, leading a large expansion of the newspaper and its ambitions. He was the fourth and final member of the Chandler fami ...

said to Kerby when he won the Pulitzer, "You have raised the intellectual level of this newspaper". His specialty was criminal justice, governmental censorship, and secrecy.

Early years and education

Kirby was born on December 24 in

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo () is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 111,876 at the 2020 United States Census, making Pueblo the ninth most populo ...

, where he graduated from Centennial High School in 1931. He studied at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

from 1957 to 1958 through a

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

grant.

Career

Kirby began his journalism career as a reporter for the ''Pueblo Star-Journal Chieftain'', then he became an

until 1942. He moved to radio, joining KGHF in 1947, where he won an award as an outstanding radio journalist. In 1948, Kirby became the editor of ''Rocky Mountain Life'', then the editor at ''Frontier Magazine'', then the associate editor of ''The Nation''. He joined the ''Los Angeles Times'' as senior editorial writer in 1971.

Awards

Kirby received the

Denver Press Club The Denver Press Club, located at 1330 Glenarm Place, Denver, Colorado, is the oldest press club in the United States. Journalists first met in 1867, and the club was incorporated in 1877. History Members first met in the basement of Wolfe Londone ...

Award as an outstanding radio journalist in 1947. He won the Pulitzer Prize in the "Editorial Writing" category in 1976 for "articles against government secrecy and judicial censorship". He received the Public Service award from the State Bar of California in 1983.

References

1911 births 1993 deaths People from Pueblo, Colorado Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing winners 20th-century American journalists American male journalists {{US-journalist-1910s-stub