Russell Baker

I see that Russell Baker is giving up his Sunday Observer column in the New York Times Magazine. He made the announcement Sunday in a column that was, like all the other personal columns of his that I've read, fresh, funny and deceivingly casual. Deceivingly, because no one gives up a column casually. It is like abandoning a life-support system. After a while you can't quite be sure whether you are supporting the column, as it seems, or the column is supporting you, as it is.

Russell Baker, the Pulitzer Prize winner who amused readers of the New York Times with his gentle humor for 36 years, wrote his final column before retirement Friday, listing some of the historical moments he had the good fortune to witness. Baker, 73, began writing his nationally syndicated column "Observer" for the Times in 1962.

Russell Baker, a New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, was named Tuesday to take over in October as host of PBS' "Masterpiece Theatre," succeeding Alistair Cooke. "In America, if you're not on television, you're not an American," Baker, 67, quipped at a news conference here. "I'm a huge fan of 'Masterpiece Theatre,' and I thought this was the most honorable way to satisfy that lust to be on TV."

In the opening chapter of this collection of "Observer" columns, Pulitzer Prize-winner Russell Baker writes with gentle affection about revisiting the homes of his Southern relatives. The nostalgic tone of these essays contrast sharply with his tongue-in-cheek lampoons of the absurdities of urban life during the '80s.

The walls are sponge-painted in soft, melon tones, somewhere between Architectural Digest and the produce section. The overstuffed couches and chairs that appear from time to time are deep forest green, presumably to suggest the hunt country. A large, unpainted pine escritoire connotes a writer who has made enough money to spend it on English antiques. And, of course, there is a desktop globe, the kind that for sure was bought at auction.

Russell Baker, the Pulitzer Prize winner who amused readers of the New York Times with his gentle humor for 36 years, wrote his final column before retirement Friday, listing some of the historical moments he had the good fortune to witness. Baker, 73, began writing his nationally syndicated column "Observer" for the Times in 1962.

Bob O'Sullivan's "On the Road West During the Depression" (April 24) was beautifully evocative. It put me in mind of writer Russell Baker, the highest compliment I can give. MARY LOU WHITMORE Brentwood

In "Growing Up," New York Times columnist Russell Baker captivated countless readers and won the Pulitzer Prize by depicting his poignant coming of age in Baltimore in the years between the two world wars. In "The Good Times," Baker picks up the story of his life just about where he left off. He is out of college now, back from his wartime service in the Navy and just entering a career in journalism, the tribulations and triumphs of which--mostly the latter--over the next 15 years provide the grist for his autobiographical mill.

The walls are sponge-painted in soft, melon tones, somewhere between Architectural Digest and the produce section. The overstuffed couches and chairs that appear from time to time are deep forest green, presumably to suggest the hunt country. A large, unpainted pine escritoire connotes a writer who has made enough money to spend it on English antiques. And, of course, there is a desktop globe, the kind that for sure was bought at auction.

Russell Baker, a New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, was named Tuesday to take over in October as host of PBS' "Masterpiece Theatre," succeeding Alistair Cooke. "In America, if you're not on television, you're not an American," Baker, 67, quipped at a news conference here. "I'm a huge fan of 'Masterpiece Theatre,' and I thought this was the most honorable way to satisfy that lust to be on TV."

In the opening chapter of this collection of "Observer" columns, Pulitzer Prize-winner Russell Baker writes with gentle affection about revisiting the homes of his Southern relatives. The nostalgic tone of these essays contrast sharply with his tongue-in-cheek lampoons of the absurdities of urban life during the '80s.

In "Growing Up," New York Times columnist Russell Baker captivated countless readers and won the Pulitzer Prize by depicting his poignant coming of age in Baltimore in the years between the two world wars. In "The Good Times," Baker picks up the story of his life just about where he left off. He is out of college now, back from his wartime service in the Navy and just entering a career in journalism, the tribulations and triumphs of which--mostly the latter--over the next 15 years provide the grist for his autobiographical mill.

Bob O'Sullivan's "On the Road West During the Depression" (April 24) was beautifully evocative. It put me in mind of writer Russell Baker, the highest compliment I can give. MARY LOU WHITMORE Brentwood

I see that Russell Baker is giving up his Sunday Observer column in the New York Times Magazine. He made the announcement Sunday in a column that was, like all the other personal columns of his that I've read, fresh, funny and deceivingly casual. Deceivingly, because no one gives up a column casually. It is like abandoning a life-support system. After a while you can't quite be sure whether you are supporting the column, as it seems, or the column is supporting you, as it is.

June is sorely lacking in days your employer will give you paid time off to celebrate. But that doesn't mean it's without its notable holidays and anniversaries. We honor the flag on June 14, fathers on June 18. And June 19 is Juneteenth, which marks the day in 1865 when African Americans in Texas learned of the Emancipation Proclamation--more than two years after Lincoln signed the document ending slavery in the United States.

I wholeheartedly agree with Russell Baker that journalists aren't in touch with our nation's poor ["Affluence Remakes the Newsroom," by Tim Rutten, Dec. 13]. The solution lies at the top. We have to convince those who do the hiring at major papers that "Living Life 101" might actually be a better classroom than those that simply try to teach silver-spoon students how to empathize with the poor, homeless and downtrodden. Sam Johnson Chicago