Meg Greenfield
{{short description|American journalist}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Meg Greenfield
| image = Meg Greenfield.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name = Mary Ellen Greenfield
| birth_date = {{birth date|1930|12|27}}
| birth_place = Seattle, Washington, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1999|05|13|1930|12|27}}
| death_place = Georgetown, Washington, D.C., U.S.
| death_cause =
| alma_mater = {{unbulleted list|The Bush School|Smith College|University of Cambridge}}
| occupation = Editorial writer
| employer = {{ubl|The Washington Post|Newsweek}}
}}
Mary Ellen Greenfield (December 27, 1930 – May 13, 1999), known as Meg Greenfield, was an American editorial writer who worked for The Washington Post and Newsweek. She was also a Washington, D.C., insider, known for her wit. Greenfield won a Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing.
A book she authored was published posthumously.{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/23/books/meg-greenfield-s-secret-book-offers-insights-but-no-dish.html
|title=Meg Greenfield's Secret Book Offers Insights but No Dish
|author=Jill Abramson |date=April 23, 2001}}{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times
|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/01/04/29/reviews/010429.29clymert.html
|title=Big Potomac High School: Posthumously, Meg Greenfield says what she thinks of Washington.
|author=Adam Clymer |date=April 29, 2001}}
Life and career
Greenfield was born in Seattle, the daughter of Lorraine (Nathan) and Lewis James Greenfield.{{cite web|url=https://classics.washington.edu/meg-greenfield-biography|title=Meg Greenfield Biography |first=Daniel P. |last=Harmon |website=University of Washington |access-date=January 12, 2018}} Her family was Jewish. She attended The Bush School and graduated summa cum laude from Smith College in 1952. She also studied at Cambridge University as a Fulbright Scholar and was friends there with Norman Podhoretz, who also went on to a career in journalism.
She became influential in a male-dominated world and a close confidante of Post publisher Katharine Graham. She spent 20 years as the editorial page editor for The Washington Post and 25 years as a columnist for Newsweek. She influenced generations of Washington Post writers.{{cite news |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/05/my_mercurial_brutal_brilliant.html |last=McManus |first=Jeanne |title=My Mercurial, brutal, brilliant woman boss |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=May 25, 2014 |page=A17}}
When diagnosed with cancer, Greenfield partly retired to Bainbridge Island in her native Washington, where she wrote a posthumously published memoir entitled Washington. She died of the disease, at age 68.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/may99/greenfield14.htm |last=Smith |first=J. Y. |title=Newsweek Columnist Meg Greenfield Dies |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=May 14, 1999 |page=A1}}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/01/04/29/specials/greenfield-obit.html |last=Barringer |first=Felicity |title=Meg Greenfield, Who Shaped Washington Post's Editorial Page, Dies at 68 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 14, 1999}}
Greenfield was portrayed by Carrie Coon in 2017 film, The Post.
Awards and honors
Bibliography
- {{cite book |last=Greenfield |first=Meg |title=Washington |url=https://archive.org/details/washington00gree |url-access=registration |publisher=Public Affairs |year=2001 |isbn=978-1586480271}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{C-SPAN|12229}}
{{IWMF awards}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenfield, Meg}}
Category:20th-century American women journalists
Category:20th-century American memoirists
Category:Jewish American journalists
Category:The Washington Post people
Category:Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing winners
Category:20th-century American women writers
Category:20th-century American businesspeople
Category:20th-century American businesswomen
Category:20th-century American journalists