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Leonard Pitts, Jr. — Writer

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Leonard Pitts, Jr. — Writer

Introduction to Leonard Pitts, Jr.. 1:09 min. Interview: Raymond Elman.  Post-Production: Lee Skye. Recorded via ZOOM  8/21/2024.

 

 

LEONARD PITTS, JR. (b 1957) is a commentator, journalist, and novelist. He is a nationally syndicated columnist and winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. His first job after college was as a music writer for Los Angeles-based Soul magazine. He was originally hired by the Miami Herald to critique music, but quickly received his own column, in which he dealt extensively with race, politics, and culture from a progressive perspective.

Raised in Los Angeles and educated at the University of Southern California, Pitts currently lives in Bowie, Maryland. He has won awards for his writing from the Society of Professional Journalists, the American Society of Newspaper Editors, and the National Association of Black Journalists, and he was first nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1993, eventually claiming the honor in 2004.

Pitts’ first book, “Becoming Dad: Black Men and the Journey to Fatherhood,” was published in 2006. His seventh book, a novel titled “54 Miles,” a sequel to “The Last Thing You Surrender,” was published in 2024.

— Wikipedia

The videos below were recorded via Zoom, are organized by Success Factor, and run between 30 seconds and 5 minutes. Click on any video. You must be connected to the Internet to view the videos.

 

 

INSIGHT & INSPIRATION:   0:29 sec.  

Where did you grow up, and what was your first awareness of art of any discipline?

 

DEVELOP A VOICE:   2:34 min.

When did you start thinking of yourself as a writer, and what was your first awareness of the importance of the news industry?

 

SEIZES OPPORTUNITIES:   1:25 min.

Did your parents encourage you to pursue writing as a profession?

 

SELF-CONFIDENCE:   0:27 sec.

ArtSpeak has interviewed many writers. Most of them were not published when they were teenagers.

 

PERSEVERANCE FURTHERS:   1:23 min.

I assume that your writing talent determined where you went to college.

 

SEIZES OPPORTUNITIES:   1:03 min.

What was your odyssey after graduating from USC?

 

SERENDIPITY:   0:55 sec.

Why did you leave Soul magazine?

 

DEVELOP A VOICE:   1:31 min.

Have you considered writing a memoir about your experiences at Soul?

 

CRITICAL THINKING:   1:12 min.

Have you tried writing screen plays?

 

SEIZES OPPORTUNITIES:   1:39 min

What was your path to the Miami Herald, and did you work for any other newspapers before that?

 

INSIGHT & INSPIRATION:    2:13 min

When you moved from Los Angeles to Miami, was that a big culture shock for you?

 

SERENDIPITY:   2:00 min

How did you switch from being a music critic to being a general columnist?

 

CRITICAL THINKING:    2:35 min. 

How does the demographics of your audience influence your choice of topics?

 

CRITICAL THINKING:     1:18 min. 

How long did you live in South Florida and why did you move?

 

PERSEVERANCE FURTHERS:    2:11 min.

When did you first attempt to write a novel, and how did that experience differ from non-fiction?

 

CREATES A UNIQUE PERSONAL BRAND:    4:32 min

Tell us about your two related novels, “The Last Thing You Surrender” and “54 Miles.”

 

SELF-CONFIDENCE:    1:44 min.

What should people know about you that they may not know?

 

CRITICAL THINKING:   1:33 min. 

Tell us about one of your columns that was impactful because it provided a new point of view.

 

INSIGHT & INSPIRATION:    1:22 min

What’s your favorite movie?