Rick Bragg Bio | Wiki
Rick Bragg is an American journalist and writer. He is best known for his non-fiction books, especially those he has written about his family in Alabama. In 1996, Rick won a Pulitzer Prize recognizing his work at The New York Times. He joined New York Times in 1994. The author worked at several newspapers prior to joining the New York Times.
As a metro reporter, Rick covered murders and unrest in Haiti. He also served as a national correspondent based in Atlanta. While in Atlanta, Rick wrote about the Oklahoma City bombing, the Jonesboro, Arkansas, killings, as well as the Susan Smith trial. From there, he became the paper’s Miami bureau chief before the arrival of Elián González and the international controversy surrounding the Cuban boy. His work there was recognized with a Pulitzer Prize.
Rick resigned from the New York Times on May 28, 2003, following a two-week suspension for writing a story that was reported by an uncredited stringer. For the story, an account of Florida Gulf Coast oystermen culture he had written the year before, Rick relied on the reporting of volunteer intern J. Wes Yoder. The article ran with a dateline of Apalachicola, Florida.
According to The Washington Post “Bragg freely admits that he sent his intern, Yoder, who was compensated only with lunch and rent money, on the boat.” A review by the Times found that while Rick “indeed visited Apalachicola briefly and wrote the article, the interviewing and reporting on the scene were done by a freelance journalist, J. Wes Yoder. The article should have carried Mr. Yoder’s byline with Mr. Bragg’s.”
Rick Bragg Age
She was born on July 26, 1959, in Piedmont, Alabama, United States of America. Rick is 62 years old.
Rick Bragg Height
He is a man of above-average stature. Rick stands at a height of 5 ft 10 in ( Approx 1.78m).
Rick Bragg Family
He was born in the small city of Piedmont in northeastern Alabama to Charles Bragg and Margaret Marie Bundrum Bragg. Charles was a Korean War veteran and he died in 1974. Rick grew up in the small community of Possum Trot near Jacksonville alongside his two brothers. He credited his ability to write to listening to his family tell stories. Rick was primarily raised by his mother, as his father was an alcoholic and was almost an absent dad to Rick and his brothers. Also, Rick’s relatives were very involved in his young life and they greatly influenced his personal and also emotional development.
Rick Bragg Mother
He was raised by his mother Margaret Marie Bundrum Bragg since his father was an alcoholic and an absent dad. Margaret supported her family by picking cotton, taking in other people’s laundry, and also cleaning houses for the more prosperous families in the area. Rick has three other siblings namely Sam, Mark, and another child who died in infancy. Rick has been spending most of his recent years isolating at home in Alabama with his mother. In an interview with Garden Gun in October 2020, Rick said that his mother ” loves to cook a noon meal, it’s like the big meal of the day—that’s the way Southerners used to do it.”
Rick Bragg Wife | First Wife | Marriage
He was previously married to his ex-wife called Lisa Creel. The couple divorced in the early 1980s. Rick married his second wife called Diane Wells in May 2005. Currently, the author lives in the basement of his mother’s house in Alabama.
Rick Bragg Education
He graduated from Jacksonville High School in 1977. Later, Rick took a job and attended night courses at Jacksonville State University for six months. He was hired as a reporter for the Anniston Star in 1980
Rick Bragg Author | All Over But The Shoutin
As an author, Rick has so far authored 12 books. His book titled All Over But the Shoutin narrates the story of his childhood in Alabama, Rick’s rise to becoming a journalist, his personal struggles as well as the stories of the people he cares about. All Over But the Shoutin pays special attention to Rick’s struggles with his abusive, alcoholic father, and also the story of his mother who raised him and his two brothers on her own. In 2008, Rick authored a book titled The Prince of Frogtown It explores his father’s life in Rick’s hometown of Jacksonville, Alabama.
Rick Bragg Health
He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma a few years ago and he underwent several years of treatment. Rick is now in remission and he suffers setbacks like heart and kidney failure, and pneumonia, among other infections.
Rick Bragg Southern Living
Apart from writing books, Rick has also taught writing in colleges and in newspaper newsrooms. Currently, he works as a writing professor for the College of Communication and Information Sciences at the University of Alabama’s journalism program. Also, he writes a column for Southern Living.
Rick Bragg The Speckled Beauty | New Book
His latest book is titled The Speckled Beauty: A Dog and His People, Lost and Found. Alfred A. Knopf. It was published in August 2021. The book captures the extraordinary, sustaining devotion between two damaged creatures who need each other to heal.
Rick Bragg Pulitzer
In 1996, Rick won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing, citing “his elegantly written stories about contemporary America”. Also, he has won over 50 writing awards in two decades, including the American Society of Newspaper Editors Distinguished Writing Award twice. Rick was awarded a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University in 1992.
Rick Bragg Quotes
– “I believe that if we are going to write about life and death, we should not do it from the cheap seats.”
– “It wasn’t that I had gotten it right . . . but that I had gotten true.”
– “Mama just stepped back on the treadmill of worry and hopeless, and kept walking.”
– “Every life deserves a certain amount of dignity, no matter how poor or damaged the shell that carries it.”
– “Momma kept a garden, which sounds romantic to people who have never held a hoe”
– “The children start school now in August. They say it has to do with air-conditioning, but I know sadism when I see it.”
Rick Bragg Books | Books In Order
– All Over But the Shoutin′. Random House Value Publishing. (Published on March 16, 1999).
– Wooden Churches: A Celebration. Algonquin Books. ( Published on November 1, 1999).
– Somebody Told Me: The Newspaper Stories of Rick Bragg. Vintage; 1st Vintage Books edition. ( Published on August 28, 2001).
– Ava’s Man. Vintage; 1st Vintage Books edition. ( Published on August 13, 2002).
– I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ( Published in 2003)
– The Prince of Frogtown. Random House. ( Published on May 6, 2008).
– The Most They Ever Had. MacAdam/Cage. ( Published in October 2009)
– Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story. HarperCollins.( Published on October 2014).
– My Southern Journey: True Stories from the Heart of the South. ( Published in September 2015)
– The Best Cook in the World: Tales From My Momma’s Table. Alfred A. Knopf. ( Published in April 2018)
– Where I Come from: Stories from the Deep South. Alfred A. Knopf. ( Published on October 2020)
– The Speckled Beauty: A Dog and His People, Lost and Found. Alfred A. Knopf. ( Published on August 2021).
Rick Bragg Net Worth
He is an American journalist and writer who has accumulated an estimated net worth of $3,694,782.
Is Rick Bragg Still Married
Rick married his second wife called Diane Wells in May 2005. He was previously married to his ex-wife called Lisa Creel.
Does Rick Bragg Have Cancer
Currently, Rick is in remission from cancer after he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma a few years ago.
Is Rick Bragg Married
Rick married his second wife called Diane Wells in May 2005. He was previously married to his ex-wife called Lisa Creel.
Where Does Rick Bragg Live Now
Rick is currently living in the basement of his mother’s house based in Alabama.