Forward From this Moment: Selected Columns, 1994-2009

by Leonard Pitts Jr.

Since 1976, when he was an 18-year-old junior at USC, Leonard Pitts' writing has been winning awards, including the Pulitzer and five National Headliner Awards. This book collects his best newspaper columns, along with select longer pieces. The book is arranged chronologically under three broad subject headings: �Waiting for Someday to Come,� about children and family; �White Men Can�t Jump (and Other Stupid Myths),� about race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and other fault lines of American culture; and �Forward from this Moment,� about life after the September 11 attacks, spirituality, American identity, and Britney Spears.

Pitts has a readership in the multi-millions across the country, and his columns generate an average of 2500 email responses per week. His enthusiastic fans are certain to embrace this collection of the best of his newspaper and magazine work, published to coincide with the release of his first novel, Before I Forget. Forward from this Moment is an essential collection from one of America�s most important voices.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics

349 pages, Paperback

First published August 4, 2009

About the author

Leonard Pitts Jr. was born and raised in Southern California. He is a columnist for the Miami Herald and won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. He was also a finalist for the Pulitzer in 1992. In 1997, Pitts took first place for commentary in division four (newspapers with a circulation of more than 300,000) in the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors' Ninth Annual Writing Awards competition. His columns on the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman have garnered much attention from his peers and readers alike.

Pitts's column, "We'll Go Forward From This Moment," an angry and defiant open letter to the terrorists, generated upwards of 30,000 emails and has since been set to music, reprinted in poster form, read on television by Regis Philbin, and quoted by Congressman Richard Gephardt as part of the Democratic Party's weekly radio address. He is a three-time recipient of the National Association of Black Journalists’ Award of Excellence, a five-time recipient of the Atlantic City Press Club’s National Headliners Award and a seven-time recipient of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Green Eyeshade Award.

In a career spanning 35 years, Leonard Pitts, Jr. has been a columnist, a college professor, a radio producer, and a lecturer, but if you ask him to define himself, he will invariably choose one word: writer.

He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and children.

Reviews

[Kia H]

It's my dream come true. A collection of Leonard Pitts articles from the Miami Herald.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one book that you should own, not because it is that awesome but because it is not one to be read from cover to cover in the amount of time you have when you borrow it from your library (ILL is how I got mine.) It is a book to have on hand to read one or two of the entries and then come back a week or a month later for another one.

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

I nearly always agree with Pitts, so I think he's brilliant. This incredibly diverse collection of columns is rich, indeed. Pitts is a wonderful craftsman - his prose is taut and compelling. Highly, highly recommended.

[Ilana Waters · Rating 5 out of 5]

My only regret concerning this book was that it was not a collection of the authors' COMPLETE columns, though I know this may not be feasible. Pitts is, quite simply, one of the most brilliant observers and writers on American culture (and more) today.

[Julie Christiano · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been waiting for this for years, and each column is better than the previous. I am considering ordering about 20 and giving them as gifts.

[Ian Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's really hard to rate a collection of newspaper columns, because obviously I liked some more than others. But the ones I liked, I loved. Pitts is not only a supremely talented writer in a challenging form - 600 word columns - but he's also the kind of person I sorely miss in American political conversation. If you chose only certain columns to read, you could believe he was a conservative, others a liberal. He has beliefs that don't necessarily fit either side, and he expresses them with reason and passion. Smart. The middle third, focusing mostly on race, is the strongest, with some of the most intelligent and depressing sentences I've read on that topic.

[Samuel Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leonard Pitts is a great writer. In this collection of writings from his column in the Miami Herald, he deals with issues such as poverty, racism, sexism, politics, domestic violence and ignorance in all communities. His words flow smoothly. He is the type of journalist who wants readers of his column to think. He is not trying to persuade to think how he may be thinking. We need more columnist like this.

[John Bohnert · Rating 3 out of 5]

The SACRAMENTO BEE only prints an occasional column by MIAMI HERALD columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr.. I've enjoyed reading selected columns of his from 1994 to 2009 in this book. I now have a Google Alert for his name and can read all of his current columns as they are published.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love to read this guy!

[Jolene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leonard Pitts is my hero!

[Aldafan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just loved it, all of it.

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leonard Pitts, Jr. is, by far, my favorite newspaper man. His reasonable voice speaks to me when I just don't know what to say about things.

[Doug Wells · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always been a fan of Pitts' columns, and this is a great compilation or "best of."