Born on this date in 1847 in Makó Hungary on the Romanian border (a stone’s throw from Vallaj, where my dad was born), the son of a wealthy grain merchant of Jewish origin (like my paternal grandfather) and a German mother who was a devout Roman Catholic, young Joseph Pulitzer always dreamt (like many Hungarian boys of yore who were weaned on the children’s fantasy Hári János doc) of being a soldier. After not qualifying for the Austrio-Hungarian Army nor the French Foreign Legion, he fulfilled his dream by coming to America and joining the Union Army in 1864.
In 1872 he bought his first newspaper for $3000. He became famous after he bought New York’s World, transforming newspaper journalism with pictures, cartoons, and a liberal editorial ethic. He fought against the Spanish American war, a war bought and paid for by rival “yellow journalist” William Randolf Hearst.
    
He survived the “newsie’s” strike of 1899. Newspapers were distributed by young orphans and homeless children for a meager 10 cents per hundred – and they would have to eat the cost of unsold papers! This is all commemorated in the Disney musical mega-flop Newsies.
We all know about his endowment ($500,000) for journalism and literature prizes. He also happened to mentor the entire field of journalism serving in the public interest. He mentored Nellie Bly, who’s expose, Ten Days in a Mad House, was groundbreaking firsthand journalism. We can thank Pulitzer for Pulizer prize winning editorial cartoons, such as the following by Mike Luckovich. You may not be able to pick up a Pulitzer, but you can enter the 2007 Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon contest, or Science Idol – but hurry, the deadline is May 22nd.
    
    
 
