Urban columnist for The Washington Post, William J. Raspberry was recipient of the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. His topics range from crime, AIDS, and violent rap to a historic perspective on human relations.

He describes his Okolona, Mississippi, home town as having "two of everything there, one for the whites and one for the blacks."

His career at The Washington Post began in 1962 after four years at the Indianpolis Recorder and his service in the U.S. Army. From teletype operator to reporter to columnist in 1966, his obervations sharpened and his voice developed. By 1995 he was syndicated in approximately 180 newspapers across the country.

"Dubbed the ‘Lone Ranger of Columnists,’" according to The Washington Post, "Raspberry is known for his independence of mind and his enlightened commentary on social and political issues. His opinions have long served as the springboard for many a debate, from newsrooms and classrooms to the White House and Congress."

Georgetown University, in honoring him with a doctorate degree in 1984, said that Raspberry "has shown us what we are, but has also shown us what we might be." Named by Washingtonian magazine in 1997 as one of the 50 most influential journalists in the national press corps, Raspberry teaches at Duke University, serving in the Knight Chair in Communications and Journalism.

William Raspberry page on the Washington Post opinion section provides recent columns by Raspberry.