PERSON: David Remnick

Journalist

David J. Remnick (born October 29, 1958) is an American journalist, writer, and editor. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994 for his book Lenin’s Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire, and is also the author of Resurrection and King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero. Remnick has been editor of The New Yorker magazine since 1998. He was named “Editor of the Year” by Advertising Age in 2000. Before joining The New Yorker, Remnick was a reporter and the Moscow correspondent for The Washington Post. He also has served on the New York Public Library board of trustees and is a member of the American Philosophical Society. In 2010, he published his sixth book, The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama.

Remnick was born to a Jewish family in Hackensack, New Jersey, the son of Barbara (Seigel), an art teacher, and Edward C. Remnick, a dentist. He was raised in Hillsdale, New Jersey, in a Jewish home with, he has said, “a lot of books around.” He attended Yavneh Academy in Paramus. Remnick was also a childhood friend of comedian Bill Maher. He attended Pascack Valley High School in Hillsdale. At Pascack Valley High School he studied Russian and was thereby inspired to also study the politics and culture of the USSR.

He was graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1981 with an A.B. in comparative literature; there he met writer John McPhee, was a member of the University Press Club, and helped found The Nassau Weekly. Remnick completed a 122-page-long senior thesis titled “The Sympathetic Thread: ‘Leaves of Grass’ 1855-1865.” Remnick has implied that after college he wanted to write novels, but due to the illnesses of his parents, he needed to get a job. Wanting to be a writer, he took a job at The Washington Post.

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