Contact:
National Society of Newspaper Columnists
Executive Director Ginny McCabe
Ernie Pyle Legacy Foundation
Morgan Maschino
For Immediate Release
The National Society of Newspaper Columnists and Ernie Pyle Legacy Foundation will join forces on Tuesday, April 18, for National Columnists’ Day and Ernie Pyle Remembrance Day to honor the accomplishments of Ernie Pyle and all of those who are dedicated to column-writing today.
Founded in 1977, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists created National Columnists’ Day on April 18 in memory of the day in 1945 that Ernie Pyle was killed in World War II. Pyle was a Pulitzer Prize-winning, U.S. journalist and war correspondent who became best known for his stories about American soldiers during World War II. He was a human-interest reporter, who penned syndicated newspaper stories for Scripps Howard from 1935 to 1945.
Pyle earned recognition for his plainly phrased, compelling accounts of ordinary American soldiers during World War II. In 1944, Pyle won the Pulitzer Prize for his newspaper accounts of “dogface” infantry soldiers from a first-person perspective. He was killed in action during the Battle of Okinawa in Iejima, Japan, on April 18, 1945. President Harry Truman said of Pyle, “No man in this war has so well told the story of the American fighting man as American fighting men wanted it told. He deserves the gratitude of all his countrymen.”
Dedicated to columnists and journalists across the globe, the purpose of the day is to recognize the work journalists do to bring information to people. These scribes are responsible for helping to create public opinion, holding the powerful accountable and shedding light on meaningful stories.
The National Society of Newspaper Columnists joins with columnists everywhere to celebrate National Columnists’ Day on April 18. This day was chosen in 1995 by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists upon the suggestion of then-NSNC President Bill Tammeus and columnist Dave Lieber to honor Pyle’s legacy.
For more information on the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, visit www.columnists.com. To connect with the Ernie Pyle Legacy Foundation, go to www.erniepylefoundation.org.
