Richard Ben Cramer | |
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| Born | (1950-06-12)June 12, 1950 Rochester, New York, U.S. |
| Died | January 7, 2013(2013-01-07) (aged 62) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
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| Children | 1 |
Richard Ben Cramer (June 12, 1950 – January 7, 2013) was an American journalist, author, and screenwriter. He was awarded aPulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1979 for his coverage of theMiddle East.
Cramer was born and raised inRochester, New York, the son of Brud and Blossom Cramer.[1] He graduated fromBrighton High School in 1967. He wrote forTrapezoid, the school'sstudent newspaper, after he was cut from thebaseball team.[2] He earned abachelor's degree in liberal arts in 1971 fromJohns Hopkins University where he was also a writer and editor forThe Johns Hopkins News-Letter. Unable to land a job atThe Baltimore Sun, he instead attended theColumbia University Graduate School of Journalism where he received amaster's degree one year later in 1972.[3]
Cramer worked as a journalist at several publications, includingThe Philadelphia Inquirer,The Baltimore Sun,Esquire Magazine, andRolling Stone. He won aPulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1979 for his coverage of theMiddle East as aforeign correspondent forThe Philadelphia Inquirer and was a finalist for the same Prize in 1981.[4] His work as a political reporter culminated inWhat It Takes: The Way to the White House, an account of the1988 presidential election that is considered one of the seminal journalistic studies of presidential electoral politics. His next book,Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life, was aNew York Times bestseller in 2000. He was an avidNew York Yankees fan and lived on theEastern Shore of Maryland.[4] His final published book wasHow Israel Lost: The Four Questions, about the ways in which theIsraeli occupation has corrupted the country's original vision.
Cramer wrote and narrated several well-known documentary films, often in collaboration with filmmakerThomas Lennon:The Choice '92 (PBSFrontline, 1992),Tabloid Truth (PBS Frontline, 1994) andThe Battle Over Citizen Kane (PBSThe American Experience, 1995), which premiered at Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award. He co-wrote and narrated a film about Joe DiMaggio,The Hero's Life, produced by long-time collaborator Mark Zwonitzer, based on Cramer's book. He contributed to the scripts of two PBS series,The Irish in America: Long Journey Home (1998), andThe Supreme Court (2007).
Richard Ben Cramer died atJohns Hopkins Hospital inBaltimore of complications fromlung cancer on January 7, 2013, at age 62. Cramer lived inChestertown, Maryland, with his second wife, Joan. Besides his wife he is survived by a daughter, Ruby, from his first marriage to Carolyn White.[5]
| External videos | |
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 Booknotes interview with Cramer onWhat It Takes, July 26, 1992,C-SPAN | |
| Presentation by Cramer onHow Israel Lost, June 24, 2004,C-SPAN |
