Jonathan Pitts on Muck Rack

Jonathan Pitts

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Baltimore
As seen in: Baltimore Sun, MSN, Yahoo Life, The Washington Post, Yahoo News, New York Daily News, Yahoo Finance, Post Tribune, SFGate, The Toronto Star, U.S. News and World Report and
Covers:  All things poignant and peculiar, often in the realms of religion, race, social justice, science, the arts and little-known facets of history.
Doesn't Cover: I put in my time on zoning and easement issues. Those are about the only topics off my list!
Enterprise and religion reporter for The Baltimore Sun, chronicler of sports, music, social justice, all things poignant and peculiar. Dad, husband, Blues fan.

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Jonathan Pitts’s Biography

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Sun enterprise and religion reporter/writer, chronicler of sports, social justice, music, the military and much, much more. Native of St. Louis, Mo., fan of the Cardinals and Blues, and co-author of the Whitey Herzog memoir "You're MIssin' a Great Game," recently chosen by Esquire magazine as one of the best 100 baseball books ever written. Graduate of Haverford College, the University of Iowa (film production), the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Got a story idea, lead or thread? …

Jonathan Pitts’s Journalist Portfolio

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Records prove Johns Hopkins University founder owned slaves, shattering belief he was a staunch a...

Records prove Johns Hopkins University founder owned slaves, shattering belief he was a staunch a...

The narrative has stood as an unquestioned landmark of Baltimore history for at least nine decades: Johns Hop…

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Eleven years ago, a couple took over a floundering zoo in Cecil County. Now it's a regional desti...

Eleven years ago, a couple took over a floundering zoo in Cecil County. Now it's a regional desti...

RISING SUN - The sunlight bore down over northeastern Maryland, and the humidity was close to 90%, but the he…

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In slavery, her family was owned by his. Now they attend a Baltimore church seeking to atone for ...

In slavery, her family was owned by his. Now they attend a Baltimore church seeking to atone for ...

The Rev. Natalie Conway's tenure as the new deacon of Memorial Episcopal Church in Baltimore's Bolton Hill wa…

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Headlines told of a baby found in 1934 near Baltimore's Penn Station. New DNA tests offer an answ...

Headlines told of a baby found in 1934 near Baltimore's Penn Station. New DNA tests offer an answ...

In the waning days of the Great Depression, a woman told Baltimore Police she'd found a baby in the back seat…

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You're Missin' a Great Game

You're Missin' a Great Game

This memoir, co-written with Whitey Herzog, was ranked in February 2022 by Esquire magazine as one of "The 10…

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Greenmount Ave. barber has held court in same shop for 60 years

Greenmount Ave. barber has held court in same shop for 60 years

Four of the rowhouses in the 2000 block of Greenmount Avenue are boarded shut. A disheveled man nurses a bott…

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Articles

Tall ships, Blue Angels to headline Baltimore’s SAIL250 celebration

|
By Jonathan Pitts 
| Yahoo
Baltimore's legacy as a hub of world maritime history will be front and center when the city plays its part in celebrating America's 250th birthday later this month. Fourteen tall ships from around the world, including places as far away as India, Romania and the United Kingdom, are expected to highlight a week of anniversary commemorations in and around the Inner Harbor between June 24 and 30.
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Tall ships, Blue Angels to headline Baltimore’s SAIL250 celebration

|
By Jonathan Pitts 
| Baltimore Sun
Fourteen international tall ships and a historic multinational airshow will help celebrate America's 250th birthday in Baltimore. RevContent Feed
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Baltimore Sun Hall of Fame 2026: Rev. William C. Calhoun Sr., pastor

|
By Jonathan Pitts 
| Yahoo Life
The house was packed, the crowd full of nervous anticipation as the longest-tenured pastor in the history of Trinity Baptist Church stepped to the pulpit for the last time. The Rev. William C. Calhoun Sr. had served the landmark West Baltimore congregation for 51 years. He had counseled generations of people, young and old, hosted a long-running television program, worked alongside civil rights legends to compel change in his adopted city and become a steadfast but loving father figure to thousands.
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Interview

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What was your first job as a journalist?

Writing, Xeroxing and distributing a sports newsletter about my neighborhood when I was 9 -- a nickel a copy.

Have you ever used a typewriter?

Absolutely. I was a master at using two-color ribbons and WhiteOut.

Who's your favorite fictional journalist?

Tintin

Awards

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"Best 100 Baseball Books Ever Written," Esquire magazine

2022 - Best Baseball Books

For its pre-spring training issue (February 2022), Esquire chose the 100 best baseball books of all time, including "You're Missin' a Great Game," which I co-wrote with Whitey Herzog (Simon and Schuster), alongside such classics as "Ball Four, "Moneyball" and "The Boys of Summer."

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Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild

2018 - Best Writing any Category

Bill Pryor Memorial Grand Prize for Writing for best story in a D.C. or Baltimore news outlet. The story, "Half a Century Later," chronicles the race riots in Cambridge, Md., in 1967 and their long-lasting effects. WBNG never published an article on it; a copy of the banquet program available on request.

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Maryland - Delaware - D.C. Press Assocation

2019 - Best Religion Writing

Best in Show for Religion Writing, Division A (daily newspapers with circulation of over 75,000)

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National Association of Black Journalists

2018 - Best Feature

"Salute to Excellence" award for best single-story feature in a regional outlet, for "Bringing a Dark Chapter to Light: Maryland's Lynching History."

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Maryland - Delaware - D.C. Press Assocation

2018 - News-Driven Multimedia Storytelling

Best combination of writing and use of multimedia to tell a story in category A (daily newspapers with circulation of over 75,000)

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Maryland - Delaware - D.C. Press Assocation

2018 - Best Use Of Interactive Media

Best use of interactive media for dailies in Division A (circulation more than 75,000)

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Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild

2017 - Best Feature Writing

Best feature of 2017 for "Half a Century Later," on Cambridge, Md,, the 50th anniversary of a city-wide race riot, and the community's efforts to heal.

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Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild

2016 - Excellence in Feature Writing

Honorable Mention (second place) for feature writing for a profile of a clergyman who is both an Episcopalian and an Evangelical pastor..

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Amy Foundation

2015 - Outstanding Religion Feature

National Award of Outstanding Merit for religion writing "with a call to present biblical truth reinforced with scripture in secular, non-religious publications."

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Chesapeake Associated Press Mark Twain Award

2007 - Sports News

Part of a team that wrote "Orioles Fire Perlozzo," on the background of the dismissal of the Orioles' then-manager. Article award unavailable online; see organization website.

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Maryland - Delaware - D.C. Press Assocation

2007 - Best Feature Story (Non-Profile)

Best non-profile feature story of the year, Division A (newspapers over 75,000 circulation)

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MIssouri Lifestyle Journalism Award

2005 - Best Arts and Entertainment Writing

Best arts and entertainment story from U.S. newspapers of all sizes.

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American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors

2005 - Best Arts and Entertainment Writing

Best Arts and Entertainment feature for newspapers worldwide with circulations of between 175,00 and 300,000.

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New York Times Notable Book of the Year

1999 - Best Books of the Year

Every year the New York Times selects the best books written in a given year. "You're MIssin' a Great Game," which I co-authored with baseball Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog, was named in the nonfiction category. (Listed in alphabetical order, it appears last at the link.)

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