The Resume

(August 14, 1925-January 21, 2019)
Born in Loudon, Virginia
Journalist and essayist
Wrote the ‘Observer’ column for the New York Times (1962-98)
Hosted Masterpiece Theatre (1992-2004)
Wrote ‘An American in Washington’ (1961), ‘No Need to Panic’ (1964), ‘Poor Russell’s Almanac’ (1972), ‘Growing Up’ (1982), and ‘The Good Times’ (1989)
Edited ‘The Norton Book of Light Verse’ (1986) and ‘Russell Baker’s Book of American Humor’ (1993)
Chaired the Columbia University Pulitzer Prize board (1993-94)

Why he might be annoying:

He said the nadir of his journalism career was bluffing his way through an interview with Evelyn Waugh, despite the handicap of not having read any of Waugh’s books.
He wrote a musical, ‘Home Again, Home Again,’ that closed during tryouts without making it to Broadway (1979).
He was a self-proclaimed ‘sourpuss,’ who replied to the question ‘What makes you laugh out loud’ with ‘Very little.’
He said about appearing on TV, ‘I can't bear to look at myself. I fancied that I was an exceedingly charming, witty and handsome young man, and here's this fidgeting old fellow whose hair is parted on the wrong side.’

Why he might not be annoying:

He was married to Miriam Nash for 65 years.
His column was a departure from the dry and solemn writing that then prevailed at the New York Times.
James Reston called him ‘the best writer in the newspaper business that I know about.’
He won two Pulitzer Prizes: one for commentary for his observer columns (1979) and one for biography for his memoirs ‘Growing Up.’ (1983)

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Anthology Series Hosts
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 70]
• I am in Public Broadcasting
• I Attended Johns Hopkins University
• I Died in 2019 (Ranked: 93)
• Look at Me, I'm on the Cover of Time
• Look at Me, I've Been Caught Smoking
• Look at My Magazine Cover
• Look at My Typewriter
• Newspaper Journalists/Editors/Publishers
• Profiles 45001-45250 (Ranked: 45155)
• Satirists and Wits
• We Celebrated Our Golden Anniversary
• We Died on the Same Day (Ranked: 20190121)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 37 Votes: 51.35% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 17 Votes: 94.12% Annoying